HUD Claims Facebook’s Advertising Practices Violate Federal Antidiscrimination Law Posted on April 10, 2019 US Department of Housing and Urban Development v. Facebook, complaint The majority of Facebook’s revenue comes from digital advertisements. With the sheer amount of information gleaned from a user’s online presence, preferences, and activities, Facebook gives advertisers the ability to select for specific characteristics of their intended audiences. As homes and real estate are among the many goods and services...
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Hikma v. Vanda: Hikma Pharmaceuticals Petitions for Supreme Court review of Pivotal Patent Ruling Posted on April 08, 2019 Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., et al. v. Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., No. 18-817, opinion hosted by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On April 13, 2018, the Federal Circuit Court affirmed the District Court of the District of Delaware’s decision to uphold Vanda Pharmaceuticals’s patent on a treatment method for schizophrenic patients. The treatment implements a range of dosages...
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In-N-Out Claims Trademark and Trade Dress Infringement over Puma's 'Drive Thru' Shoes Posted on April 04, 2019 Complaint, In-N-Out Burgers v. Puma North America, Inc. et al, No. 8:19-cv-00413 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 1, 2019), complaint hosted by heitnerlegal.com. On March 1, 2019, the popular California burger chain In-N-Out filed suit against Puma and Los Angeles-based fashion designer Mike Cherman for trademark and trade dress infringement over Puma’s new “Cali-0 Drive Thru” and “California Drive Thru” sneakers (collectively...
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Proposed Amendment to California Consumer Privacy Act Would Create Private Right of Action for All Violations of Act Posted on March 29, 2019 S.B. 561, 2019 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2019) As businesses adjust to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), public outcry over data privacy is intensifying in the United States. A recently proposed amendment, S.B. 561, 2019 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2019), to California’s already stringent data privacy law aspires to further upend the legal landscape. The California Consumer...
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House and Senate Democrats Introduce New Bill to Restore Net Neutrality Laws Posted on March 27, 2019 Save the Internet Act of 2019, H.R. 1, 116th Cong. (2019). On March 6, 2019, Democrats in the House and the Senate introduced the Save the Internet Act of 2019. The legislation would restore net neutrality rules that were repealed by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) in December 2017. The three-page bill: repeals the FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order (“RIF...
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Corker v. Costco: A Complaint Brewing Over Kona Coffee Posted on March 18, 2019 Corker et al v. Costco Wholesale Corporation et al, No. 2:19-cv-00290 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 27, 2019). Complaint hosted by Law360. On February 27, 2019, five individual Kona coffee growers from three Hawaii-based coffee farms filed a class action suit against Costco, Amazon, Walmart, and others in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The Complaint is filed...
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Google v. Oracle: Silicon Valley Braces for "Lawsuit of the Decade" as Google Petitions for Cert to decide API Copyrightability Posted on March 13, 2019 Petition for Writ of Certiorari, Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., 886 F.3d 1179 (Fed. Cir. 2018), No.18-956. Petition hosted by Reuters. In January of 2019, Google petitioned for certiorari in Google LLC v Oracle America, Inc. The case concerned a copyright infringement claim filed by Oracle against Google for use of the Java API in Android smartphones. Oracle seeks damages that could...
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Musical.ly (Tik-Tok) to pay $5.7 million to settle FTC allegations that it violated COPPA Posted on March 11, 2019 The social media video sharing app Musical.ly (Tik-Tok) agreed to pay a $5.7 million settlement in response to allegations of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), which requires websites and other online services to obtain parental consent before collecting the personal information of children under the age of 13. The Department of Justice filed the FTC’s complaint on...
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President Trump Issues Executive Order to Maintain American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Posted on March 06, 2019 Exec. Order No. 13,859, 84 Fed. Reg. 3967 (February 14, 2019). On February 11, 2019, President Trump issued an executive order aimed at establishing America’s place as the global leader in artificial intelligence technology. Largely following up on the recommendations of the 2018 White House Summit on Artificial Intelligence for American Industry, it marks the launch of the American AI...
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Helsinn Healthcare S. A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA: Supreme Court Rules Secret Sales Could Bar Patent Eligibility Under the America Invents Act Posted on March 05, 2019 In a unanimous decision, the United States Supreme Court upheld the Federal Circuit’s interpretation of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act’s (“AIA”)  “on-sale” provision, 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) (2018), in response to Helsinn Healthcare S. A.’s patent infringement claim against Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. The Federal Circuit’s decision reversed the District Court’s previous ruling that an invention is “on-sale” only if...
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