Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

November 26, 2024
Google Must Provide Discovery In Gift Card Scam Suit Pending Disposition Of Claims

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on Nov. 25 denied Google LLC and affiliated companies’ motion for reconsideration of a past order allowing discovery to continue in a putative class action against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by failing to protect consumers from Google Play gift card scammers, writing that a stay is not warranted by an order dismissing the claims because they were dismissed with leave to amend.
November 26, 2024
Court Lacks Jurisdiction Over OnlyFans Subscribers’ Unfair Renewals Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted an adult website operator’s motion to dismiss a putative class action brought by plaintiffs who accused it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by allegedly charging them automatic renewal fees without warning, finding that after amendment and supplementary briefing the plaintiffs failed to establish personal jurisdiction.
November 26, 2024
High Court To Review Delegated Oversight Of Telecommunications Subsidies

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has granted two petitions for a writ of certiorari and consolidated cases concerning whether Congress violated the nondelegation doctrine by authorizing the Federal Communications Commission to delegate a subsidy program to a private entity, both arising out of the en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the program violates the “private nondelegation doctrine.”
November 25, 2024
Federal Circuit Agrees: Electronic Pipe Patent Anticipated By Prior Art

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Nov. 22 affirmed a finding from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in an inter partes review (IPR) brought by tobacco company Philip Morris Products SA and its American subsidiary, agreeing with the PTAB’s holding that multiple claims in a patent on an electronic smoking pipe product were patent ineligible for being anticipated by prior art.
November 22, 2024
COMMENTARY: 2024 Key Insurance Decisions, Trends & Developments & A Look Ahead To 2025

By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Lisa M. Roccanova
November 22, 2024
Roblox Brings Cross-Claims Against Third-Party Developers In Parents’ Gambling Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Roblox Corp. in its amended answer to putative class claims brought in California federal court by parents who say it allowed their minor children to play gambling games has for the first time brought cross-claims against the third-party developers behind the games at issue, asserting that they flaunted its rules and are “pillaging Roblox’s intellectual property” in violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).
November 22, 2024
TikTok Not Entitled To Attorney Fees In Digital Media Patent Infringement Suit

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Despite TikTok Inc. being the prevailing party and being granted judgment on the pleadings in a patent infringement suit over video clip storytelling, a California federal magistrate judge found that the case was not exceptional, leading her to deny the social media company’s motion for attorney fees of almost $5 million.
November 21, 2024
DOJ, States Argue That ‘Google Must Divest Chrome’ In Sherman Act Antitrust Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a suit in which a federal judge overseeing the case previously determined that Google LLC violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and officials from numerous states on Nov. 20 urged the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to adopt their proposed final judgment, which includes requiring Google to divest web browser Chrome.
September 17, 2024
23andMe Asks MDL Judge To Approve $30M Data Breach Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — Genetic data company 23andMe Inc. filed a brief urging the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to grant preliminary approval to a $30 million settlement to resolve claims in a multidistrict litigation brought by plaintiffs whose genetic data on 23andMe’s website was hacked and offered for sale online and asking the court to enjoin separate litigation and arbitrations brought against it for the breach that it says could “jeopardize . . . the Settlement.”
November 21, 2024
Some 23andMe Users Seek Arbitration, Not Class Action, For Data Breach Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — In a brief filed in California federal court, several users of 23andMe Inc.’s website defend their right to pursue arbitration against the company for the theft of their genetic information by hackers, arguing that their decision to arbitrate defeats any typicality of claims between them and class members in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) over the theft and makes preliminary approval of a settlement of the MDL inappropriate.
November 21, 2024
Federal Circuit Agrees Patent Holder Didn’t Show Injuries From Twitter

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel granted a motion for summary affirmance from the company formerly known as Twitter Inc., agreeing with a Texas federal judge that a patent holder that inherited patents regarding online videos from a predecessor company failed to show how it as the current patent holder was harmed by Twitter; the finding doomed the patent holder’s request for a preliminary injunction that was filed nearly eight years after the suit was initially brought.
November 20, 2024
Judge Denies Dismissal Of Public Nuisance Claims In Social Media Addiction MDL

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge largely denied dismissal of public nuisance claims under the laws of 19 states in a product liability multidistrict ligation over the purported addictive qualities for adolescents of several of the largest social media platforms, finding “that plaintiffs have successfully established unreasonable interference with the public’s right to health and safety.”
November 19, 2024
DOJ Seeks To Participate In High Court Argument For Texas Age-Based Online Porn Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar on Nov. 18 filed a motion in the U.S. Supreme Court to participate in oral argument in a case in which Free Speech Coalition Inc. (FSC), a nonprofit adult industry trade association, along with adult entertainment industry petitioners, urge reversal of a ruling by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that vacated an injunction for a Texas law (HB 1181) requiring the operators of pornographic websites to verify that their visitors are adults.
November 19, 2024
Judge Tosses Patent Suit Against Google Over Ineligible HVAC Claims

OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California on Nov. 18 granted Google LLC’s motion to dismiss a patent infringement suit brought against it by a technology company over smart thermostat technology, holding that the company’s patent is directed at unpatentable abstract ideas.
November 18, 2024
High Court Won’t Decide If Agency Can Waive Immunity Statewide In Google Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its Nov. 18 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court denied without comment a petition for certiorari in which the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SCDPRT) insisted that the state’s attorney general could not waive sovereign immunity on behalf of other state agencies in discovery matters.
November 18, 2024
Panel Reverses Dismissal Of State’s Data Breach UCL Claim, Citing Discovery Rule

SAN DIEGO — A California appellate panel addressing a question of first impression on Nov. 15 reversed a trial court’s ruling in favor of Experian Data Corp. barring claims brought by the San Diego District Attorney’s Office accusing Experian of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by failing to protect more than 400,000 California customers whose data was hacked, writing that the state adequately alleged that its UCL claim accrued within the statute of limitations period.
November 18, 2024
Judge Grants Apple’s Dismissal Motion In Suit Against Israeli Tech Companies

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Apple Inc.’s voluntary motion for dismissal and motions to seal in Apple’s suit accusing Israeli technology companies NSO Group Technologies Ltd. and Q Cyber Technologies Ltd. (collectively, NSO) of violating federal and California law by allegedly developing malware to hack into Apple’s servers.
November 18, 2024
Epic Urges Court To Deny Apple’s Bid For Relief From Injunction In Antitrust Row

OAKLAND, Calif. — Epic Games Inc. filed a brief in California federal court in its antitrust suit against Apple Inc., urging the court to reject Apple’s motion to limit or vacate an injunction requiring it to permit app developers to inform users of methods of making in-app purchases (IAPs) outside of the App Store.
November 15, 2024
Gamers Bring Class Suit Against Developers For Online Racing Game’s Shutdown

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two video game players filed a putative class action lawsuit in California federal court accusing developers of an online racing video game known as The Crew of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by shutting down servers to the game, thereby terminating players’ access to the game permanently, which they compare in their suit to a manufacturer coming “into your home” and removing a product you previously paid for.
November 14, 2024
Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction Targeting Online Patent Infringers

MIAMI — A company that owns a collection of health and beauty patents saw a Florida federal judge shut down the websites and freeze the assets of parties selling counterfeit, infringing products online as the judge granted the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
November 14, 2024
Judge Denies Judgment In FTC Antitrust Suit Against Meta, Cites ‘Legal Jousting’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on Nov. 13 mostly denied motions for summary judgment filed by Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) and the Federal Trade Commission in the commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Meta, finding that despite the parties’ “impressive” “legal jousting,” “[t]his case must go to trial.”
November 14, 2024
6th Circuit: Man’s Reverse Domain-Hijacking Claims Against FedEx Fail

CINCINNATI — A federal judge in Tennessee committed no error when dismissing a Bulgarian citizen’s trademark infringement action against Federal Express Corp. (FedEx), saying that the man failed to plead facts necessary to support his “reverse domain-name hijacking claim,” the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, saying that the man’s arguments fail because one of his “gripe” websites critical of FedEx was never taken down.
November 14, 2024
Google Play Gift Card Scam Victim Says Discovery Should Continue Pending Amendment

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A putative class action plaintiff accusing Google LLC and affiliated companies of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by failing to protect consumers from Google Play gift card scammers, whose complaint was recently dismissed with leave to amend, filed a brief in California federal court opposing the court’s reconsideration of a stay of discovery while she prepares an amended complaint.
November 13, 2024
Objector Appeals After New York Times Auto-Renewal Class Settlement OK’d

NEW YORK — A class member who objected to a $2,375,000 settlement to be paid by The New York Times Co. to end a class complaint accusing the newspaper publisher of engaging in an illegal “automatic renewal” scheme filed a notice of appeal four weeks after final settlement approval was granted by a federal judge in New York.
November 13, 2024
Live Nation, Ticketmaster Seek Rehearing After 9th Circuit’s Arbitration Ruling

PASADENA, Calif. — Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC filed a petition for panel rehearing and/or rehearing en banc on Nov. 12 after a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a trial court’s denial of arbitration in a putative class complaint accusing the two companies of engaging in anticompetitive practices in online ticket sales.