In AT&T Mobility, LLC v. Rigney, 3D21-2261 (Fla. 3d DCA Sept. 6, 2023), Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal reviewed the denial of two motions for sanctions under section 57.105, Florida Statutes. In its ruling, the...more
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s summary judgement order, granting a chocolate shop franchisor’s breach of contract and unfair competition claims. The appellate court concluded there were...more
Supreme Court of New York, New York County - Plaintiff Jane Wixted, individually and as executrix of the estate of decedent Thomas Wixted, filed the instant lawsuit claiming that the decedent was exposed to asbestos in...more
Indefiniteness under U.S. patent law is a failure to satisfy the statutory requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 112(b), which reads: "The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly...more
C.R. Bard Inc. v. AngioDynamics, Inc., Appeal No. 2019-1756, -1934 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 10, 2020) - Our Case of the Week is one of two cases decided this week in which the Federal Circuit finds that a district court jumped the...more
A state high court recently issued a stark reminder to litigants of their duty to clearly bring to the court’s attention the arguments and evidence upon which they rely in order to both survive summary judgment and preserve...more
I have previously written on the Bittner (E.D. Tex.) case in a prior Insight. Briefly summarized, the taxpayer, Mr. Bittner, was a dual citizen of both Romania and the United States. However, in 1990, he moved back to...more
Under the "genuine dispute" doctrine, an insurer is not liable for bad faith if its denial of a claim was reasonable. In Ghazarian v. Magellan Health, Inc., 53 Cal. App. 5th 171 (2020), a California appellate court reversed a...more
One of the banes of any practicing patent attorney's professional existence is counseling clients on licensing agreements where the parties attempt to avoid setting forth definitive terms on contract provisions regarding...more
On February 26, 2020, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Intel Corp. Inv. Policy Comm. v. Sulyma, __. U.S. __, 140 S. Ct. 768 (2020). The Court unanimously held that Christopher Sulyma ("Sulyma") did not necessarily...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini examined a case in which a group of shareholders alleged the company and two individual defendants breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders, and an investment bank aided and...more
This month's key California employment law cases involve payment of wages, workplace conditions, public employment issues, and civil procedure....more
Estella Trammell was an at-will employee of AccentCare. She challenged the district court’s order requiring her to arbitrate a pay dispute with AccentCare. The district court held that there was an enforceable arbitration...more
In Friends Life Limited v Miley, the Court of Appeal (CA) upheld a claim by Mr Miley under a group income protection insurance policy (the “Policy”) through a scheme operated by Friends Life Limited (“FL”). The CA did not...more
Employers may be liable to their employees for harassment by non-employees under Title VII. Courts have found liability for this so-called “third-party harassment” in some of the following fact-specific contexts: waitresses...more
Patent eligibility challenges under 35 U.S.C. §101 have been effective tools for defendants to obtain early dismissal of a case without extensive fact finding since the Supreme Court ruling in Alice. Whether a claim recites...more
The Board’s Final Written Decision Must Address All Grounds for Unpatentability Raised in a Petition for Inter Partes Review - In Adidas AG v. Nike, Inc., Appeal Nos. 2018-1180, 2018-1181, the Federal Circuit held that...more
The Alberta Court of Appeal (ABCA) may have lowered the standard of proof for summary judgement. This could help shorten the process to judgment for clients pursuing claims as well as assist clients bring unmeritorious claims...more
In two recent cases, the Federal Circuit addressed the role of factual questions in resolving patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The first case was Berkheimer v. HP Inc. and the second was Aatrix Software v. Green...more
Jobseeker Website May Be Compelled To Disclose Identity Of Anonymous Posters Who Criticized Employer - ZL Technologies, Inc. v. Does 1-7, 13 Cal. App. 5th 603 (2017) - ZL Technologies brought suit, alleging libel per se and...more
On Friday, May 5, 2017, in a major victory for lenders, the North Carolina Supreme Court reversed the North Carolina Court of Appeals’s decision in United Community Bank v. Wolfe. In July 2015, the Court of Appeals decided in...more
While many breach of contract cases are resolved by motions to dismiss or summary judgment, a recent decision from the Appellate Division, First Department, Kramer v. Greene, (1st Dep’t Aug. 11, 2016), has shown that when it...more
A new opinion released by the Tenth Circuit provides practical tips to employers dealing with multiple employee complaints alleging generalized harassment and/or discrimination throughout the workplace....more
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed that an insurer is entitled to summary judgment when its insured fails to abide with the policy’s cooperation clause, a condition precedent to filing suit. See Wu v. Safeco...more
In Marlton Recovery Partners, LLC v. County of Los Angeles, et al. (filed 11/20/15), the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, affirmed summary judgment in favor of the defendants County of Los Angeles, the...more