Commercial Appeals Roundup

By Barry Barnett on May 19, 2021

Alright, we’ve returned from a hiatus and bring you up to date for May 2021 with this edition of Commercial Appeals Roundup.

Yale’s Akhil Amar explains The Words That Made Us, as only he can.

User of service mark may acquire protectable rights in it despite not making any sales.

Adverse district-court rulings in other cases didn’t make legal point objectively unreasonable and therefore worthy of fee award.

Tech firm didn’t co-own patents on inventions that ex-employees conceived months after leaving.

Trade secret statute didn’t trigger right to seal court filings.

Changes to claims may open new 60-day window for filing TCPA motion to dismiss.

Section 230 of Communications Decency Act didn’t bar claim against SnapChat for prompting young man to take risks that killed him.

Inventor’s ”literally incorrect” testimony that he had never seen a device liked the one he claimed to have invented warranted dissolving injunction in his firm’s favor.

Arbitrator’s failure to disclose remote ties to party didn‘t prove bias.

Class deal that gave excess funds back to defendant and clear sailing to class counsel’s fee request needed a close look but passed test.

Sulfur plume might not have started trespassing beneath surface of plaintiffs’ lease area outside statute of limitations period.

Securities Act reached European stock sales that became binding in U.S.

Patent owner that sent letters claiming California company infringed patents subjected itself to personal jurisdiction in the Golden State.

Four of 20 claims in patent on method for policing use of network features survive Apple’s obviousness challenge.

AAI report highlights competitive risks to healthcare markets.

Mentorship–or sponsorship?

Note for readers

Because my practice focuses on complex commercial disputes–especially antitrust, energy, and intellectual property–I keep daily track of important decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the highest appeals courts in Delaware, New York, and Texas.

You can follow along during the week on Twitter (@contingencyblog) or here at The Contingency periodically with this Commercial Appeals Roundup.

Check out my profile on the Susman Godfrey website.