Ellen Degeneres, who’ll host
this year’s Awards.
The Academy Awards furnish guerdon to films, actors, directors, and others — possibly including best boys, grips, and best boy grips. Here, now, Blawgletter predicts the results of the impending Oscars. We focus on the five Best Picture nominees.
Babel gets nods for Best Supporting Actress (Rinko
Blawgletter noted on Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for defendants in two significant business cases. But now we wonder about one of the two defense victories — the one about punitive damages, Philip Morris USA v. Williams, No. 05-1256 (U.S. Feb. 20, 2007).
Readers will recall that the Court threw out a
Microsoft faces a bodacious patent
award.
The inventive genius of America never ceases to amaze Blawgletter. Nor does inventors’ audacity in pursuing patents.
Just today, the Federal Circuit dealt with patents on what Blawgletter imagines consist of sippy cups — the kind that rug rats drop or throw as often as they drink from them.
Steve Martin starred in The Jerk (1979) but
didn’t turn into one.
Blawgletter’s 22 years of practicing bidness trial law have included a great many surprises. One of the most surprising surprises? That success doesn’t require — or even benefit from — becoming a jerk.
Sure, you mutter to yourself, plenty of jerks do great
Cardizem, a blood pressure and
angina medicine whose maker
paid to avoid generic competition.
May a district court require a party’s counsel to pay costs under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d) or 28 U.S.C. section 1920? Heck no, the Sixth Circuit held today in In re Cardizem Antitrust Litig., No. 05-2375 (6th Cir.
Every courtroom should have one of these.
Blawgletter’s theme today highlights the importance of good manners in a trial lawyer.
Do you know who likes rude people? Nobody! Not even grumpy judges — and certainly not their staff. So please remember:
Internet service providers dodged a patent bullet today when the Federal Circuit upheld a summary judgment of non-infringement. MyMail, Ltd. v. America Online, Inc., Nos. 06-1147 & 06-1172 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 20, 2007). The decision highlights an exchange during a Markman hearing between U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis and plaintiff MyMail’s counsel — and
Justice Antonin Scalia, wit.
Speaking of the U.S. Supreme Court, the LA Times this morning printed an article about what it perceives as Justice Antonin Scalia’s ascendance. Blawgletter finds the subject interesting — not least because His Honor opposes constitutional limits on punitive damages and thus dissented in today’s Weyerhaueser decision (post with opinion
Don’t expect plaintiffs to skip and
jump at today’s rulings.
Today, the returning Justices issued two important business law decisions. The first involved a "predatory buying" theory of antitrust liability. Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber Co., Inc., No. 05-381 (U.S. Feb. 20, 2007). The Court held, unanimously, that a plaintiff alleging predatory
Justice lives — and Justices work — here.
The U.S. Supreme Court gets back to hearing oral argument this morning after a 24-day hiatus. See Court’s calendar. The two-day docket includes Microsoft Corp. v. AT&T Corp., which presents questions about extraterritorial application of U.S. patent law.
Woo-hoo!
