Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce
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January 13, 2022
Texas Patent Claims Over IWallet Feature Dismissed By Federal Judge
WACO, Texas — In an order issued Jan. 12, a federal judge in Texas denied a bid by Apple Inc. to dismiss allegations that it directly and indirectly infringed claims of two patents directed to Apple’s “FaceID” technology but granted dismissal as it relates to a third patent.
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January 13, 2022
Judge Dismisses UCL, Other Claims Against Google Over ‘Loot Boxes’
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on Jan. 10 dismissed without leave to amend a putative class action against Google LLC brought by plaintiffs who accused Google of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes by allowing distribution through its Play Store of games within which users purchase “Loot Boxes” containing special game items, rejecting the plaintiffs’ arguments that loot boxes are equivalent to illegal slot machines.
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January 13, 2022
Apple To 9th Circuit: IPhone Slowdown Class Settlement Provides Meaningful Relief
SAN FRANCISCO — A settlement over class claims that a software update resulted in the performance slowdown of certain of its devices was properly approved by a trial court, Apple Inc. argues in a Jan. 10 appellee brief to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, asserting that the agreement’s minimum value of $310 million provides meaningful relief despite Apple’s belief that the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on their computer intrusion claims.
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January 11, 2022
Winn-Dixie Asks 11th Circuit To Recall Mandate Mooting Website ADA Appeal
ATLANTA — Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. filed a time-sensitive motion on Jan. 10, asking the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to recall its recently issued mandate dismissing an appeal over whether its website is inaccessible to the blind in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), stating its intention to seek en banc rehearing of the court’s finding that the appeal is moot.
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January 11, 2022
Twitter Appeals Order Requiring It To Identify Anonymous Tweeter
OAKLAND, Calif. — In a Jan. 7 motion, Twitter Inc. seeks de novo determination of a magistrate judge’s ruling that required it to comply with a subpoena requiring it to identify a social network user who posted several tweets that were seemingly critical of a private equity executive, arguing that the magistrate judge erred in not requiring the petitioning company to demonstrate that it would be harmed if Twitter’s motion to quash the subpoena is granted.
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January 11, 2022
Maryland Court To Consider Internet-Acquired Talc Samples’ Admissibility
BALTIMORE — Maryland’s top court on Dec. 8 agreed to decide whether a lower appellate court erred in reversing a trial court’s conclusion that it would take a “leap of faith” to conclude that talc products procured through the internet for an asbestos case were authentic and whether the court overlooked alternative grounds for granting the defendant summary judgment.
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January 10, 2022
Supreme Court Rejects Bid For Review Of Section 101 Holding
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An April ruling by the Federal Circuit that a method of safeguarding data when data processing is outsourced to third-party internet-based systems recites the abstract idea of backing up data records will not be reviewed, the U.S. Supreme Court announced Jan. 10.
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January 07, 2022
COMMENTARY: Key U.S. Insurance Decisions, Trends, & Developments: ESG, Social Inflation, COVID-19, Cyber/Privacy, Civil Unrest, Opioids, Lead, Sexual Assault & Other Perils Figure Prominently
By Scott M. Seaman and Sarah Anderson
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January 07, 2022
Class Claims Against Apple Alleging Gambling Via In-Game ‘Loot Boxes’ Axed
SAN FRANCISCO — In a Jan. 4 order, a California federal judge again dismissed a mother’s putative class claims alleging that Apple Inc. violates California’s unfair competition law (UCL) via virtual “loot boxes” within video games available on Apple’s App Store, which she said constitute gambling, finding that the plaintiff did not sufficiently allege an economic injury and did not establish that the loot boxes ran afoul of any state gambling legislation.
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January 07, 2022
9th Circuit Undoes Class Certification In Copyright, Bootlegging Case
SAN FRANCISCO — In a Jan. 3 unpublished ruling, a per curiam panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said a federal judge in California erred in allowing copyright infringement claims against a website that makes available live concert recordings to proceed as a class action.
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January 07, 2022
Online Education Support Provider Sued Over Revenue Growth Misstatements
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California-based online purveyor of academic support services and several of its senior executives materially misled investors in violation of federal securities laws by failing to disclose that the company’s revenue growth was a temporary benefit of nationwide remote learning in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic and would not last, a shareholder argues in a Dec. 22 complaint filed in California federal court.
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January 07, 2022
Magistrate Grants Amazon’s Bid To Exclude Damages Expert In Patent Dispute
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas federal magistrate judge on Jan. 4 barred an expert from offering his reasonable royalty analysis for a company suing Amazon for patent infringement, agreeing that his calculations are unreliable and irrelevant under the standards set in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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January 07, 2022
ASU Appeals Dismissal Of Trademark Claims Over ‘Hoax-19’ Instagram Account
SAN FRANCISCO — Arizona State University (ASU) filed an opening brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 16, arguing that a trial court erred in dismissing sua sponte its trademark and trade dress claims over a fake Instagram account that was started by a John Doe, arguing that it presented prima facie evidence that the account, which flouted university rules pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, used the university’s trademarks in a manner that was confusing to the public.
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January 06, 2022
9th Circuit Denies Rehearing In Google, Twitter, Facebook Terror-Aiding Suits
SAN FRANCISCO — On Jan. 3, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing in a lawsuit brought against Google LLC under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) by a terror victim’s family, declining to address issues related to the immunity provisions of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA).
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January 06, 2022
11th Circuit Deems Wife Authorized To Access Cheating Husband’s Skype Account
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Because a Florida woman created a Skype account that she shared with her now-ex-husband, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 20 found that his claims of unauthorized access under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and Stored Communications Act (SCA) necessarily failed, affirming a trial court’s judgment in favor of the ex-wife.
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January 05, 2022
Panel Says ‘Sign-in Wrap’ Agreement Does Not Require Arbitration Of UCL Claims
SAN DIEGO — In a case of first impression, a California appellate panel on Dec. 30 affirmed a trial court’s denial of a website owner’s petition to compel arbitration of claims that it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes by enrolling consumers into monthly memberships for its services, finding that the website’s notice pages failed to meet statutory requirements of conspicuousness.
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January 04, 2022
Philips North America Denied Injunction In California Copyright Case
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Citing a failure to demonstrate the existence of irreparable harm, a federal judge in California on Dec. 21 denied a request by Philips North America LLC to enjoin a defendant accused of creating a fake login to continue servicing medical equipment in contravention of copyright law.
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December 20, 2021
YouTube, Twitter, Meta Oppose Consolidation Of Trump’s 1st Amendment Lawsuits
OAKLAND, Calif. — YouTube Inc., Twitter Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) on Dec. 15 each filed briefs in California federal court opposing a motion by former president Donald J. Trump to consolidate his cases against the three social network operators in which he alleges violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, challenges the constitutionality of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) and seeks to retain control of his currently suspended accounts on each platform.
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December 16, 2021
Virginia Federal Judge Tosses Copyright Claims On Jurisdiction Grounds
NORFOLK, Va. — Allegations that a digital marketplace copied the product categorization system and descriptions from a competitor’s website were dismissed without prejudice on Dec. 14 by a federal judge in Virginia, who said jurisdiction is lacking over a plaintiff’s copyright infringement allegations.
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December 16, 2021
YouTube: Amended Class Complaint In Copyright Row Still Deficient
SAN FRANCISCO — In a Dec. 13 motion to dismiss, YouTube LLC says the latest filing in an infringement action by a Grammy-winning composer and musician “flouts” a directive from a California federal judge ordering the plaintiff to identify the copyrighted works at issue while also presenting “a potpourri” of other problems.