Welcome to summer 2024’s first edition of Commercial Roundup.
- Force majeure clause in contract for “firm” supply of natural gas from Texas to Arizona didn’t require seller to show Storm Uri made delivery impossible but did mandate proof that it used “due diligence” to protect its Permian Basin source and to tap other sources.
- Selling copies of model codes and standards having force of law in Canada didn’t infringe U.S. copyright.
- Court looking into odd pattern of patent cases had inherent authority to order owner of patent-holding firm to appear at hearing and hold her in contempt for failing to attend.
- Force majeure clause in 2019 contract allowed firm to cancel big event at hotel after COVID-19 public health orders made holding event “impossible or illegal”.
- Failure of U.S. firm to invoice foreign country for payments under contract in U.S. barred commercial exception to sovereign immunity defense.
- Parties’ consent to “receiving the verdict from the jury” didn’t cover “non-ministerial functions” that only an Article III judge may perform.
- Nonsense phrase in amendment didn’t create ambiguity over when term of contract ended.
- Clicking “Acknowledge” button bound software author to assign rights in software.
- U.S. House budget would cut Antitrust Division’s funding and bar it from hiring people to perform new jobs.
- Bankruptcy Code doesn’t allow discharge of creditors’ claims against persons other than debtors.
- More than 30,000 people who claimed Samsung misused their data failed to prove they bound themselves to Samsung’s standard arbitration agreement.
- Likelihood of confusion survey wins trademark infringement case.
- Blatant copying of Motorola’s data and theft of its trade secrets cost foreign thief profits from U.S. sales under Copyright Act and profits from U.S. and foreign sales under Defend Trade Secrets Act.
- Winners of arbitration award in Hong Kong over real estate dealings in China against U.S. resident could collect in dollars.
- Title to “personal property” that builder stored at site of new hotel passed to project’s owner upon payment of builder’s interim invoices for it.
- Claim under Sherman Act against retail stock broker and market maker for scheme to bar customers from further trades in meme stocks failed to allege that scheme harmed competition for broker services.
- Touting of generic drug as equal to brand-name version implied intent to induce uses that infringed patent.
- Bar against contracts that require payments after patent expires didn’t void arbitration award.
- Preliminary injunction enforcing patents against DNA test for cancer somehow survives review.
- Proof that law would infringe constitutional right does not by itself show irreparable harm.
- Trustee that drew fees straight from workers’ health and pension accounts in in multi-employer trust fund must face class claims for damages under ERISA.