Still No Injunction in ‘JoeyBra’ Case

CSX Did Not Spell Out Carmack Limitation

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 10, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Rail carrier CSX Transportation Inc. is liable for the full $550,000 in damage to a $1.3 million electrical transformer shipped from St. Louis to Pittsburgh, and the district court erred in holding that the parties had limited CSX’s potential liability in the bill of lading to $25,000; the 4th Circuit says the parties did not [...]

Disabled-Worker Contract FCA Claims Dismissed

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 5, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Claude M. Hilton, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court dismisses relator’s remaining False Claims Act counts against alleged coconspirators who purportedly defrauded the government on contracts to employ severely disabled workers, in the wake of a government settlement with relator on his FCA claims alleging his former employer, the National Center for Employment of the Disabled, unlawfully retaliated against [...]

Media Company Wins Domain-Name Dispute

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 5, 2013
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge John F. Anderson, Judge T.S. Ellis III, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiff Entrepreneur Media Inc. wins default judgment against Internet domain name entrepreneursstartup.com in this decision by the Alexandria U.S. District Court under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. The court accepts the recommendation of the magistrate judge and orders that the registry VeriSign Inc. is directed to change the registrar of record for defendant domain name [...]

Claim Construction for Server Control Patent

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 5, 2013
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge T.S. Ellis III, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In plaintiff Suffolk Technologies’ suit alleging defendant Google’s willful infringement of Suffolk’s ‘835 patent that purports to cover several methods for controlling a server in response to requests for files from web pages, an Alexandria U.S. District Court offers Markman claim construction determinations for specified terms. In essence, the ‘835 patent teaches a method for [...]

Dental Board Action Violates Antitrust Law

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 5, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Antitrust, Judge Dennis W. Shedd

A state agency that regulates the practice of dentistry cannot overturn a Federal Trade Commission decision that the agency’s efforts to shut down teeth-whitening services performed by non-dentists constituted unfair competition that violated federal antitrust law; the 4th Circuit rejects the state dentistry board’s petition for review of the FTC order. The eight-member North Carolina [...]

‘Terminal Disclaimer’ Survives Missing Fee Receipt

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 29, 2013
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Liam O'Grady, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to defendant U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in this suit by Harvard University alleging the PTO improperly determined that their ‘803 patent, entitled “Transgenic non-human mammals,” had expired and improperly refused to enter certain claims during re-examination of the patent. On April 12, 1988, Harvard was granted [...]

Patent Suit Barred by Prior Judgment

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 29, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge James R. Spencer, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Richmond U.S. District Court grants judgment on the pleadings to defendant parking company in this suit by plaintiff software company attempting to enforce its ‘662 patent, a system that transforms data from one computer system into another format for use by a different computer system; under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, the present suit [...]

Telephone Number Ownership Suit Advances

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 29, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Virginia Beach-based used car dealer that markets directly to military service personnel, whose toll-free telephone number allegedly was wrongly seized by defendant Cox Communications Hampton Roads LLC on a transfer of service from Verizon, may sue Cox for conversion and trespass on chattels; the Norfolk U.S. District Court says Virginia law is unclear and [...]

No Certification for First-Refusal Issue

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 29, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In Priority Auto Group’s suit against Ford Motor Company alleging breach of a contract “right of first refusal to purchase” Priority’s attempt to buy Kimnach Ford Inc., the Norfolk U.S. District Court denies Priority’s motion to certify to the Supreme Court of Virginia certain first-impression questions of law, filed after the magistrate judge issued a [...]