Welcome to Commercial Roundup!
This issue notes an Epic antitrust win against Google, comments by yours truly on the likelihood of an Antitrust Division challenge to a $1.8 billion merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian, Susman Godfrey’s National Boutique of the Year award, and tips on themes for your next jury trial. And, oh yes–a rundown of the significant appellate decisions you should know about if you handle complex commercial cases.
New Appellate Rulings
- In post-grant review, missing one-year deadline didn’t defeat Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s final ruling.
- Life policy that said assignment would take effect “upon notice” to insurer, failure to give notice voided assignment.
- Failure to compel documents vitiated party’s right to develop heart of its case and called for mandamus relief.
- Well worth reading–esp. if you mix up algorithms with logarithms, as I tend to do. Congratulations, Alicia Lai.
- Lender couldn’t contest its lies to oil and gas venture about how much money lender had.
- Expert’s error in using power savings from chip mode that didn’t infringe patent required new trial on damages.
- Free speech right didn’t protect parody of Vans shoe trade dress. https://lnkd.in/gF6wABpb
- ANDA labels for drugs couldn’t have induced infringement of patent.
- Legal research by lawyer who advised client to pay weak lien claim fell below standard of care.
- Motion to amend complaint 20 months after court dismissed it didn’t aim to correct a “mistake” within Rule 60(b)(1) and therefore escaped 60(b)(1)’s one-year time limit.
- Promise by winning party to defend victory on appeal obviated intervention by groups wishing to do likewise.
- Whether or not lease’s call for three-person “appraisal” to “determine” future rent counted as “arbitration” under federal Arbitration Act, appraiser’s 2-1 determination bound the parties.
- Does California’s bar against contracts that “exempt” party from paying damages for breach or other misconduct forbid a clause that disallows the only kind of damages plaintiff incurred but permits other kinds?
- Unconscionability of clause in arbitration agreement doesn’t invalidate it if at “low levels”.
- Clock for filing appeal from contempt order that calls for fee award as sanction doesn’t start until entry of award.
- Google monopolized the Android app distribution market and the market for in-app billing services.
News and Tips
- Susman Godfrey wins the National Boutique Firm of the Year honors.
- “Susman Godfrey LLP partner Barry Barnett said he sees ‘little chance the merger will go through without a challenge by the Antitrust Division,’ adding that the DOJ unit ‘has often pointed to the [airline] industry as one that the more permissive enforcement approaches of previous administrations regrettably allowed to consolidate, with an irretrievable loss to the industry’s competitive vigor.'” Read more at:
- Persuasion tips from Trial Science: May your theme be remembered.