Employer Collects Deposition Transcript Costs

Security Guard Negligence Claim Remanded

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 5, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Kroger’s customer who alleges she was injured when a security guard tried to apprehend a suspected shoplifter who shoved plaintiff into a metal sign may have a claim against the security guard, and because the security guard and plaintiff are both Virginia residents, the Richmond U.S. District Court has no diversity jurisdiction in the [...]

Plaintiff’s ‘Willful’ FCRA Charge Survives

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 5, 2013
Tags: Consumer Protection, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Defendant credit reporting agency cannot escape liability for a “willful,” or “objectively unreasonable” violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act for its failure to identify one of three sources of information for its erroneous reporting of a debt that affected plaintiff’s government security clearance, and the Richmond U.S. District Court denies defendant’s motion for partial [...]

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 [...]

Corrected Certificate Limited Disability Payments

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

Although a disability income rider to plaintiff’s group term life insurance initially did not indicate a maximum benefit period per single disability period, the late provision of a corrected certificate specifications page stating a two-year maximum benefit period did not provide a basis for plaintiff to sue under Maryland law, and the Alexandria U.S. District [...]

Owner Liable for MPPAA Payments

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

In a multiemployer pension plan’s suit for withdrawal liability payments from the owner of a withdrawing employer pursuant to the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980, the Alexandria U.S. District Court grants the pension plan’s motion for summary judgment for the withdrawal liability and interest on unpaid contributions in the amount of $2,189,279.56, as [...]

Substitute Trustee Valid for Foreclosure

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 5, 2013
Tags: Judge Robert E. Payne, Real Estate, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Richmond U.S. District Court dismisses plaintiff borrowers’ suit alleging defendant note holder LNV Corporation’s substitution of trustee is invalid and foreclosure on their property should be overturned. Plaintiffs must demonstrate that but for LNV’s allegedly invalid execution of the substitution of trustee, the foreclosure process would not have been triggered. Plaintiffs failed to make [...]

Extra Computers Disclosed in Child Porn Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 5, 2013
Tags: Criminal, Judge James C. Cacheris, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A defendant is not entitled to a new trial on charges of receipt and possession of child pornography based on his contentions that the government violated Brady v. Maryland by failing to timely disclose exculpatory evidence purportedly located on computers belonging to defendant’s father; the Alexandria U.S. District Court also rejects defendant’s claim that the [...]

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 [...]

‘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 [...]