A federal district court in Texas denied a preliminary injunction filed by a franchisee (“EYM”) after Pizza Hut, as franchisor, terminated the franchise agreements....more
A federal court in California recently granted partial summary judgment in favor of a distributor of wine corks for breach of an exclusivity provision following the supplier’s sale of certain corks in the United States. M.A....more
Ohio- Enforceability of Arbitration Agreement- Bryan Costin v. Midwest Vision Partners LLC., 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 112651, 2024-Ohio-463. The Eighth District Court of Appeals recently affirmed the trial court’s ruling...more
When representing an aggrieved plaintiff in a commercial matter, there are certain business torts that I tend to rely on more heavily than others. If business torts were foods, for example, a claim like breach of contract...more
The recent lawsuit filed by the New York Knicks against a former employee, the Toronto Raptors’ parent organization, and the Raptors’ head coach, could be a harbinger of a rise in employment and trade secret litigation in...more
On September 13, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas granted in part and denied in part UMB Bank’s motion to dismiss counterclaims for tortious interference, breach of contract, and breach of the duty of...more
The New York Knicks just sued their former employee and his new employer, the Toronto Raptors, in a case that can teach employers a lot about trade secret misappropriation. The August 21 lawsuit accuses their Eastern...more
X Corp., the company formerly known as Twitter, recently sued Bright Data over its site scraping activities. Bright Data is a data collection company and advertises—among other services—its “website scraping” solutions....more
In a late-March 2023 decision out of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, a court denied a plaintiff's request for attorneys' fees against a defendant who filed "objectively specious" counterclaims...more
The Lanham Act- Lewis v. Acuity Real Estate Services, 6th Cir. 22-1406- In this appeal, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision dismissing the complaint under the Lanham Act because such a...more
Bungie, a video game company that created the “Halo” and “Destiny” game series, has been awarded $4.3 million in damages in an arbitration against a creator of cheat software....more
A federal court in Ohio denied a distributor’s motion for a preliminary injunction, holding that it failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of its claims against a beer importer who chose a different...more
Ohio- Tortious Interference with Business Relations Emanuel’s LLC v. Restore Marietta, 4th Dist. Washington No. 2023-Ohio-147. In this appeal, the Fourth Appellate District affirmed the trial court’s decision to grant...more
Lenders seeking to challenge controversial, often punitive, liability management transactions scored a recent win in Boardriders. The transaction at issue, a priming uptier exchange transaction favoring certain...more
A cease-and-desist letter is a warning to businesses or individuals to stop certain harmful actions. The letter may even threaten legal action if the recipient does not comply. If you receive a cease-and-desist letter,...more
On June 3, 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an Arizona district court erred in dismissing a defamation suit for lack of personal jurisdiction. The suit was brought by an attorney against three Catholic...more
It’s a fact pattern that repeatedly arises in trade secret cases: a company hires someone who has a confidentiality agreement with their former employer. Just before (or shortly after) being hired, the individual emails...more
The South Carolina Supreme Court issued two decisions late in 2021 that may impact employers’ and co-workers’ potential liability in litigation arising from an employee’s discharge....more
The court’s decision in Yatra Online, Inc. v. Ebix, Inc. et al (C.A. No. 2020-0444-JRS (Del. Ch. May 13, 2021)) underscores the importance of carefully considering the language of a contract’s termination provisions when...more
Commercial leases often contain attorney fee provisions allowing a party who prevails in litigation to recover attorney fees from the losing party. Can those attorney fee provisions apply to third parties — outsiders to...more
Tortious interference with business relations involves a third party using false claims against a business in order to drive business away or prevent the business from entering a relationship with another party. The key...more
Tortious interference, also known as intentional interference with contractual relations, is a common law tort that occurs when a party intentionally sabotages or otherwise damages the plaintiff’s contractual business...more
Howard, et al. v. Matterhorn Energy, LLC, et al. [6th Dist.] May 4, 2021 considered the Texas Citizens Participation Act as amended, effective on September 1, 2019....more
On August 3, 2020, the California Supreme Court held in Ixchel Pharma, LLC v. Biogen, Inc. that tortious interference with at-will contracts requires establishing wrongful conduct independent of interference itself. 9 Cal....more
The American Bottling Co. v. BA Sports Nutrition, LLC et. al, C.A. No: N19C-03-048-AML CCLD (Del. Super. Feb. 11, 2021) - Delaware courts generally uphold the attorney-client privilege, including by recognizing waivers...more