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Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

  • January 23, 2026

    Federal Circuit: Judge Rightly Tossed Infringement Suit Asserting Abstract Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Washington federal judge’s dismissal of a patent owner’s infringement complaint against Google LLC, determining in the Jan. 22 opinion that the asserted claims of the patent are directed at an unpatentable abstract idea without a necessary inventive concept.

  • January 23, 2026

    Federal Circuit: Issue Preclusion Required PTAB Find Claim Invalid

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that issue preclusion barred the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) from adjudicating the validity of a patent claim in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings initiated by Apple Inc.; the panel reversed the PTAB’s finding that Apple failed to show that the patent claim was invalid as obvious.

  • January 22, 2026

    Mother Claims ChatGPT Twisted Son’s Favorite Book, Design Complicit In Suicide

    LOS ANGELES — A man turned to OpenAI entities’ ChatGPT for consolation after a difficult breakup, but it quickly turned his favorite book into a story about letting go and romanticized suicide despite his insistence that he was happy to be alive, his mother alleges in a Los Angeles County Superior Court lawsuit.

  • January 22, 2026

    Judge Won’t Reconsider Sanctions For Pro Se Plaintiffs’ Misuse Of AI

    FLINT, Mich. — Limited economic resources do not warrant reconsidering $600 in sanctions imposed for misuse of artificial intelligence after a pro se mother and son were previously warned about the behavior, a federal judge in Michigan said.

  • January 22, 2026

    Pa. Supreme Court: Order To Compel Arbitration Not Appealable In Uber Injury Suit

    PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Jan. 21 vacated an appellate court judgment finding that a trial court order granting a petition to compel arbitration is an appealable collateral order in a negligence suit against Uber Technologies Inc. and related parties, finding that the appellate court lacked jurisdiction over the issue of whether there was a valid arbitration agreement.

  • January 22, 2026

    Job Seekers Accuse AI Application Screener Of Unfair Evaluations

    MARTINEZ, Calif. — Two unsuccessful job applicants filed a putative class action in California state court accusing an AI employee-screening company of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by evaluating the plaintiffs’ applications to companies that use the AI software at issue to score their applications based on “sensitive and often inaccurate information.”

  • January 22, 2026

    Federal Circuit Affirms Denial Of Patent Owner’s JMOL Of Infringement Motion

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 21 affirmed a Minnesota federal judge’s refusal to grant a patent owner’s posttrial request for judgment as a matter of law of infringement and patent validity, but the panel vacated portions of the judge’s final order that improperly applied to unasserted patent claims.

  • January 21, 2026

    D.C. Circuit Panel Denies Airport Board Challenge To Cybersecurity Amendment

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 20 denied a petition filed by the Spokane Airport Board seeking review of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) emergency amendment requiring certain airport security programs to include specified cybersecurity measures, finding in part that TSA’s regulatory authority includes the addition of cybersecurity plans to airport security programs.

  • January 20, 2026

    Federal Circuit Affirms: No Infringement By Nintendo Of Handheld Gaming Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A video game console made by Nintendo Co. Ltd. does not infringe another gaming company’s patent for a type of handheld gaming device because Nintendo’s accused device did not meet certain claim requirements, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed Jan. 16.

  • January 20, 2026

    Panel Rejects RNC Claims Against Google For Filtering Fundraising Emails As Spam

    HONOLULU — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 16 affirmed the dismissal of the Republican National Committee (RNC) lawsuit against Google LLC for violating the state’s common-carrier statute and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by diverting its fundraising emails to users’ spam folders.

  • January 16, 2026

    Judge Permits Use Of Pseudonyms In ‘Sexual Exploitation’ Suit Against Roblox, Snap

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge granted a motion filed by a guardian on behalf of a minor to proceed under pseudonyms in a suit accusing Roblox Corp. and Snap Inc. of negligence related to alleged misrepresentation of their apps “as safe and appropriate places for children to play” when they were “recklessly and deceptively operating businesses in a way that led to the sexual exploitation” of the minor.

  • January 16, 2026

    Stipulation, $60M Payment Order Filed In FTC, Instacart Delivery Fee Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Trade Commission and Maplebear Inc. d/b/a Instacart filed a proposed stipulated order for a permanent injunction and monetary judgment in California federal court requiring Instacart to pay $60 million to the FTC to resolve allegations that it misrepresented free delivery of items purchased online through the Instacart Marketplace, falsely advertised a satisfaction guarantee and implemented paid memberships without consumers’ “express informed consent.”

  • January 15, 2026

    7th Circuit Affirms Judgment For Energy Company In Software Trade Secret Dispute

    CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s final judgment for an energy program consultant company in a software company’s suit against it over alleged misappropriation of trade secrets, finding that the software company failed to identify “concrete” trade secrets.

  • January 15, 2026

    Federal Circuit: No Infringement By Apple Of Device Setting Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a short opinion issued Jan. 14, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a California federal judge’s entry of summary judgment of noninfringement to Apple Inc. in a patent infringement suit brought against it by another technology entity, agreeing that Apple’s accused product does not meet claim limitations required under the judge’s unchallenged claim constructions.

  • January 14, 2026

    Parties Agree To Dismissal Of Suit Alleging Uber Breached Duty Of Care To Driver

    SEATTLE — A rideshare company and the estate and survivors of one of its drivers filed a stipulation for order of dismissal with prejudice on Jan. 13, having reached a settlement in December in a lawsuit brought as a result of the driver’s murder during a carjacking attempt perpetrated by two people who had signed up for the company’s services with false personal information and a prepaid phone and gift card minutes before being matched with the driver.

  • January 14, 2026

    Judge Remands Suit Against Insurer For Data Sharing, Denies Attorney Fee Request

    SAN FRANCISCO — Writing that a dental insurer engaged in “dubious” tactics by “removing based on federal jurisdiction then turning around and challenging federal standing,” a California federal judge denied the insurer’s motion to dismiss and instead remanded a putative class action against it for allegedly sharing insureds’ online data without consent, but denied the plaintiff’s request to consider attorney fees.

  • January 13, 2026

    Tesla Answers Complaint In Wrongful Death Suit Over ‘Defective’ Autopilot

    SALT LAKE CITY — Tesla Inc. and Tesla of UT Inc. (collectively, Tesla) filed an answer to a complaint in a product liability and wrongful death suit filed by survivors of people killed in a Tesla Model X, alleging that the vehicle was “unreasonably dangerous and defective” when it was driven by one of the decedents and crashed into a truck due to the failure of the vehicle’s autopilot feature.

  • January 13, 2026

    U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Review Ruling Vacating $5M Award In ‘Cyber’ Contest

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 denied a petition for writ of certiorari by a software developer whose $5 million award in a “Cyber Symposium” contest sponsored by Lindell Management LLC, a company owned by Michael Lindell, was vacated by the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which found that the arbitration panel that issued the award “exceeded its authority.”

  • January 12, 2026

    Certiorari Granted In 2 Suits Over Constitutionality Of FCC Forfeitures

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Jan. 9, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider whether provisions of the Communications Act, by which the Federal Communications Commission assesses and enforces the payment of monetary forfeitures, violate the Seventh Amendment or Article III of the U.S. Constitution, granting certiorari in cases involving former practices of AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. under which they sold customers’ location data to third parties.

  • January 09, 2026

    9th Circuit Affirms Judgment For Apple In Apple Watch Heart Rate Tracking Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 8 affirmed a district court order granting Apple Inc.’s motion for summary judgment on claims that it violated federal antitrust law and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by impairing a competitor’s heart rate tracking app tailored for the Apple Watch to monopolize the market, finding that Apple’s refusal to share algorithm data with third-party app developers was considered a “refusal to deal” and the competitor failed to show an exception to the antitrust principle that there is no duty to deal.

  • January 09, 2026

    Investors, Online Home-Selling Company Reach $39M Settlement In Stock-Drop Suit

    PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona granted final approval to a $39 million settlement in a suit brought by retirement funds alleging that an online home-selling company made false statements about its artificial intelligence-powered pricing algorithm that the retirement funds alleged resulted in the funds’ losses.

  • January 08, 2026

    PTAB’s Invalidation Of Memory Correction Patent Affirmed By Federal Circuit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Substantial evidence supported a finding by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that certain claims in a patent describing a system for error correction in flash memory devices were invalid as obvious, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held in a nonprecedential Jan. 7 opinion.

  • January 08, 2026

    Federal Circuit Orders New Trial On Obviousness For Parking Lot Camera Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 7 largely affirmed findings by a California federal judge and a federal jury that a patent-owning technology company failed to show that a defendant entity directly infringed a patent describing camera-assisted parking management technology; however, the panel ordered a new trial on the on-sale bar and a federal unfair competition claim.

  • January 07, 2026

    COMMENTARY: 2025 Key Insurance Decisions, Trends, & Developments & A Look Ahead To 2026

    By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Jordan W.P. Evans

  • January 07, 2026

    11th Circuit Affirms Judgment For FTC In Hyperlink Dispute With Fuel Card Company

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 6 mostly affirmed summary judgment for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a dispute over alleged deceptive advertising and unfair practices with a company that offers credit cards for fuel purchases and its CEO, finding that the district court did not err in granting summary judgment to the FTC and granting injunctive relief because requiring the company “not to hide disclosures behind a hyperlink prevents” the company from making the link harder to find.