(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that a Houston law firm should be allowed to intervene in a lawsuit to protect its right to a contingent fee. The firm's client and the opposing party had allegedly conspired to cheat it out of its deserved attorney fee for work on a matter involving a foreign arbitral award. Remanded with directions to permit intervention and consider the law firm's claims on the merits.

(California Court of Appeal) - Judgment for plaintiff in an action alleging intentional interference with a License Agreement, interference with plaintiff's prospective economic advantage, breach of a confidentiality agreement, and breach of confidence, arising out of defendant Actelion's notice to plaintiff that following its acquisition of defendant CoTherix, defendant Co-Therix's would discontinue development of plaintiff's drug for "business and commercial reasons," is affirmed, where: 1) defendant Actelion, by virtue of its ownership interest, is not automatically immune from tortious interference with the License Agreement; 2) the jury was properly instructed on the elements of wrongful interference with contract and properly charged with considering whether defendants "used unlawful means to interfere with the License Agreement;" and 3) the manager's privilege does not exempt a manager from liability when he or she tortiously interferes with a contract or relationship between third parties.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Addressed insurance coverage issues in a securities fraud case. Held that the district court abused its discretion in approving a settlement agreement and so-called bar orders. Vacated and remanded for further proceedings, in this case involving a financial firm's massive Ponzi scheme.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. An employee who sued under the Fair Labor Standards Act over unpaid wages whose case was dismissed when the company paid what was owed was not entitled to attorney's fees because he didn't technically prevail in the legal action.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. The district court dismissal of a workplace harassment suit was affirmed because after harassment was reported the company swiftly investigated and fired the harasser. No evidence was presented to support allegations of harassment in the victim's subsequent dismissal.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Reversing and remanding the suit alleging infringement of five US patents for lack of personal jurisdiction by a UK company with a Texas subsidiary suing a Brazilian company with a Minnesota subsidiary because Federal Rules of Civil Procedure supported the exercise of specific personal jurisdiction.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirming the dismissal of an action by a private energy company against the utility companies because the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act does not provide a private right of action against utility companies and affirming the denial of a motion for additional relief against various Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities officials because the court did not abuse its discretion in doing so.

(United States Federal Circuit) - In a case arising from the U.S. Department of Commerce's antidumping-duty investigation of multilayered wood flooring imports from the People's Republic of China, brought by Chinese entities that Commerce found had demonstrated their independence from the Chinese government and so deserved a separate antidumping-duty rate, not the so-called China-wide rate that applies to entities that had not shown their independence from the Chinese government, the Court of International Trade's decision affirming Commerce's findings is vacated where Commerce did not make the findings needed to justify departing from the congressionally approved 'expected method' applicable when all of the individually investigated firms have a zero or de minimis rate, which is the case here.

(United States Federal Circuit) - In an appeal arising from the U.S. Department of Commerce's third administrative review of its antidumping-duty order covering certain steel nails from China, the Court of International Trade's denial of plaintiff's suit to set aside the results of the review is affirmed where the Federal Register notice of initiation of the review constituted notice to plaintiff as a matter of law and fully enabled plaintiff to participate in the review because plaintiff did not show any prejudice from not knowing of the request in the pre-initiation period.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming the Court of International Trade's affirmation of the US Department of Commerce's findings following a review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from India.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming the US Court of International Trade's dismissal of two separate complaints challenging the countervailing duties on imported goods charged to an importer of aluminum extrusions from China because, regardless of the difference in rates between this importer's charge and a subsequent litigation into a similar matter, the importer was not a party to the other action, and they had failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and could not claim the benefit of the rate awarded in separate litigation.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming the US Court of International Trade's decision sustaining the International Trade Commission's finding that Chinese imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules were being dumped on the US market, damaging domestic industry, because these determinations were supported by substantial evidence on the record.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming the final judgment of the US Court of International Trade granting a Canadian company's motion for summary judgment in a suit where they argued that the screws they were importing to the US were properly classified as self-tapping screws under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.

(California Court of Appeal) - Reversing an arbitration proceeding default award for hundreds of millions of dollars against a Chinese company that did not appear after service by mail in a Los Angeles action brought by an American investment partnership complaining of a breach of contract because the Hague Service Convention does not permit Chinese citizens to be served by mail, nor does it permit parties to set their own terms of service by contract.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed that a maritime lien had been extinguished by laches in a case where a Cypriot fuel supplier sought to enforce its lien against a Maltese company's vessel. In affirming the lower court's finding that the lien was barred by laches, the Second Circuit also recognized that federal courts have jurisdiction to declare a maritime lien unenforceable, even where the vessel is not present in the district, so long as its owner consents to adjudication of rights in the lien and the court also found no need for abstention on the basis of international comity, even though an in-rem proceeding was pending in Panama regarding the same lien.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Denied a petition for writ of mandamus. Plaintiffs, Chinese government controlled companies, sought a writ to vacate the district court’s order denying their motion to quash service of criminal summonses. The Ninth Circuit reasoned that plaintiffs had actual notice of the summonses and that there was no error on the part of the district court.

(California Court of Appeal) - Held that a Korean manufacturer/distributor of household products was subject to specific personal jurisdiction in California. The company was being sued in connection with a consumer's death allegedly from long-term use of a humidifier cleaning agent. Reversed an order quashing service of summons.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. The application of the Commodity Exchange Act to alleged misconduct in trading of crude oil extracted from Europe’s North Sea is impermissibly extraterritorial.

(United States Eleventh Circuit) - Judgment against plaintiffs on their claims of trade dress infringement, trade dress dilution, and unjust enrichment, and judgment for one counter-claimant that a settlement agreement barred plaintiffs from bringing the present suit, are affirmed, as plaintiffs' claims fail as a matter of law. Where plaintiffs failed to file a postverdict motion regarding the settlement, they cannot raise it on appeal.

(United States Second Circuit) - Summary judgment for defendants on claims of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and related false advertising is reversed in part pending response of the New York Court of Appeals to the following certified questions: 1) Does New York common law permit the owner of a famous mark or trade dress to assert property rights therein by virtue of the owner's prior use of the mark or dress in a foreign country?; and 2) If so, how famous must a foreign mark be to permit a foreign mark owner to bring a claim for unfair competition?

(California Court of Appeal) - In suit alleging dress infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising regarding a kitchen device known as the "Tartmaster," order granting directed verdict for defendants on trade dress claims, and finding for defendants on other claims are affirmed as there was no error or abuse of discretion.

(United States First Circuit) - In Shell's suit against a former franchisee under the Petroleum Practices Marketing Act, district court's grant of Shell's motion for permanent injunction is affirmed in part, vacated in part and remanded where: 1) district court's grant of a permanent injunction ordering an defendant to cease any use of Shell trademarks, trade dress, or color patterns, and to comply with the post-termination provisions of its franchise agreements with Shell are affirmed; 2) the portion of the injunction ordering and compelling defendant to allow Shell to continue in possession of the service station until the expiration of the lease in 2014 is vacated as Shell made no showing of irreparable harm that might justify an order giving it possession of the property for the full term of the lease; and 3) Shell's motion for summary judgment on defendant's antitrust counterclaims was properly granted.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In a suit claiming that the defendant's traction hoists infringed the trade dress of the plaintiffs' traction hoist, the district court’s grant of summary judgment, its finding of exceptionality, and its award of attorney’s fees under the Lanham Act are affirmed, where the plaintiffs did not present evidence sufficient to create a triable issue as to the nonfunctionality of its claimed trade dress, but the district court's award of non-taxable costs and certain taxable costs is reversed.

(United States Federal Circuit) - The district court's denial of plaintiff's request for a permanent injunction to enjoin defendants' infringement of several of plaintiff's design and utility patents, as well as defendants' dilution of plaintiff's iPhone trade dress is: 1) affirmed in part, as to the denial of injunctive relief with respect to plaintiff's design patents and trade dress; but 2) vacated in part and remanded, as to the denial of injunctive relief with respect to plaintiff's utility patents.

(United States Federal Circuit) - In an infringement case involving intellectual property related to the iPhone,a jury verdict finding that Samsung infringed Apple's design and utility patents and diluted Apple's trade dress is: 1) affirmed as to the verdict on the design patent infringement, the validity of two utility patent claims, and the damages for the design and utility patent infringements; and 2) reversed as to the jury's findings that the asserted trade dresses are protectable; and 3) vacated as to the damages awards against the Samsung productsthat were found liable for trade dress dilution.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In a trade dress action, the district court's grant of summary judgment to defendant is reversed where there is a genuine fact issue as to whether plaintiff's manner for presenting results in its urine test report was functional under the Lanham Act.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Reversed a finding of patent claim invalidity relating to patent claims for a hairstyling device. In reversing, the Federal Circuit held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board erred in holding, on inter partes review, that the patent claims were invalid on grounds of anticipation and that the Board had mistakenly construed the claims more broadly than the description in the patent specification merited. On the correct claim construction, the Federal Circuit held that the claims were not anticipated.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Held that a patent claim relating to light-emitting diodes was invalid because it did not meet the enablement requirement. After a jury found that the defendants had infringed Boston University's patent, the defendants appealed on the ground that the patent was invalid because it did not adequately teach the public how to make and use the invention. Agreeing with this argument, the Federal Circuit held that the defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Reinstated a patent infringement claim relating to a design for a portable animal kennel. The patent owner insisted it should not be estopped by prosecution history from asserting its infringement claim against a competitor. Agreeing that estoppel did not apply, the Federal Circuit reversed the district court's judgment on the pleadings and remanded for further proceedings.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Dismissed an appeal from an inter partes review decision on grounds that the patent challenger lacked Article III standing. The challenger asserted that the patentee's claims for a motor vehicle drivetrain were invalid. On appeal, the Federal Circuit held that the challenger lacked standing because it had not established an actual injury; in particular, it had no product on the market or any concrete plans for future activity that would likely cause the patentee to complain of infringement.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirmed that certain patent claims relating to a wireless networking device were invalid as obvious. The Federal Circuit affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in an inter partes review proceeding.

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In a personal injury action, arising after plaintiff, a minor child, was exposed to lead at her grandmother's apartment where she was cared for during the day, the Supreme Court's dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where plaintiff child' did not 'reside' at her grandmother's apartment for the purposes of section 27-2013[h][1] of the Administrative Code of the City of NY, which requires landlords to remove lead-based paint in any dwelling in which a child six year of age and under resides.

A woman from Cambodia who is dying scam you.

A year later Ms Jane Tan is at it again.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirming a district court summary judgment in favor of the defense and denying attorney fees in a copyright case involving a pornographer who alleged that infringing clips were stored and displayed on the defendant's website because the Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides a safe harbor for material stored by users without the knowledge or input of the owner, who expeditiously removed infringing material when notified and did not receive a financial benefit directly attributable to infringing activity they had the right and ability to control.

(United States Second Circuit) - Held that a bunker (marine fuel) supplier was not entitled to maritime liens against two chartered vessels to which it had physically provided marine fuel for which it was not paid. Affirmed the district court, in a case raising the question whether subcontractors were entitled to maritime liens.

(United States Supreme Court) - Addressed what law applies on the Outer Continental Shelf, holding that California wage-and-hour law was inapplicable to a worker on an offshore drilling platform. Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, if federal law addresses the relevant issue, state law is not adopted as surrogate federal law. Justice Thomas delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that an oil company did not breach its contract with several other oil companies. The dispute arose out of a joint agreement to cooperatively develop oil prospects in Texas. Reversed the judgment below.

(United States Federal Circuit) - In a trademark appeal of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's decision affirming the refusal to register the mark LOUISIANA FISH FRY PRODUCTS BRING THE TASTE OF LOUISIANA HOME! without a disclaimer of FISH FRY PRODUCTS, the Board's decision is affirmed where substantial evidence supports its finding that FISH FRY PRODUCTS has acquired distinctiveness.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming the Court of International Trade's affirmation of the US Department of Commerce's findings following a review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from India.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. The district court dismissal of a workplace harassment suit was affirmed because after harassment was reported the company swiftly investigated and fired the harasser. No evidence was presented to support allegations of harassment in the victim's subsequent dismissal.

(United States Second Circuit) - In a RICO action alleging injury arising from the activities of an international criminal enterprise, or more specifically, "a massive racketeering scheme to take over a substantial portion of the Russian oil industry", dismissal of the action is affirmed where: 1) the question of the justiciability of the RICO claims was properly one of whether the complaint adequately stated a claim for relief; and 2) because the RICO statute lacked a clear statement of extraterritorial reach, plaintiff's claims were barred.

(United States Second Circuit) - In a RICO action alleging various injuries to plaintiff arising from the activities of defendants' alleged international criminal enterprise, the dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where: 1) the question of the justiciability of the RICO claims is properly one of whether the complaint adequately states a claim for relief; and 2) because the RICO statute lacked a clear statement of extraterritorial reach, plaintiff’s claims are barred.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming that a chemical compound that mirrored a patented chemical compound was encompassed by the description that only portrayed one of the arrangements in the claim.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming in part and reversing in part the inter partes review decision of the US Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Bard holding claims for methods of distributing nitric oxide gas cylinders for pharmaceutical applications used in treating respiratory failure as unpatentable as obvious because, while the Board didn't err as to most of the rulings, it did as to one.

Pressure is increasing on Gov. Tom Wolf (D) to reopen Pennsylvania, even among Democrats, as it is revealed that the vast majority of recent coronavirus deaths in the state occurred at nursing homes or personal care facilities, the Morning Call revealed this week.

A 77-year-old Michigan barber said he won't stop working "unless he is tasered by the police or Jesus Christ himself walks in" and will continue defying Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's executive orders.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that an oil company did not breach its contract with several other oil companies. The dispute arose out of a joint agreement to cooperatively develop oil prospects in Texas. Reversed the judgment below.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that a Houston law firm should be allowed to intervene in a lawsuit to protect its right to a contingent fee. The firm's client and the opposing party had allegedly conspired to cheat it out of its deserved attorney fee for work on a matter involving a foreign arbitral award. Remanded with directions to permit intervention and consider the law firm's claims on the merits.

If you start your garden now, you'll be able to eat freshly grown salads in no time.