Two appellate courts have rendered judgment on the significance of placing items in a zipped-up backpack. The outcomes suggest a backpack could be a safe harbor in the right circumstances. One case called for a ruling by the Virginia Supreme ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Supreme Court of Virginia

An employer can enforce an arbitration clause in an employment contract that waives any appellate review, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a matter of first impression. The April 8 decision allows employers to put clear ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration

Where Vagisil, the trademark for women’s health care products is commercially strong, and Vagisan, the mark for German-based products is “sufficiently similar” and a consumer survey showed actual confusion, the Vagisan trademark was rejected. Background Since the mid-1970s, Combe Inc. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Intellectual Property

Where a woman who had been associated with former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn brought defamation claims against several media organizations claiming a conspiracy to defame and injure her, neither linking to the original article via a hyperlink nor ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker Tort

Nearly three years after a federal jury found that Walmart had infringed a competitor’s trademark in marketing its line of barbecue grills, a federal appeals court has determined that the trial didn’t cut the mustard. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Henry F. Floyd Trademark Trademark infringement Walmart

Where an employee of the Drug Enforcement Administration was terminated because he refused to participate in a DEA internal investigation, not because of his Coast Guard service, his claims under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Discrimination Judge Henry F. Floyd

Where an insurer denied benefits to a woman under a supplemental life insurance policy owned by her deceased husband in a manner inconsistent with the unambiguous terms of the supplemental policy, it abused its discretion. Background Stephanie A. Morris filed ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Insurance

Where an operator has complied with the water-quality standards promulgated under the Clean Water Act, an assertion that same conduct violates the Surface Mining Act fails because the Mining Act’s saving clause prevents liability for conduct that is otherwise shielded ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Julius N. Richardson Tort

Where a 911 caller requested medical care for the decedent because of his consumption of alcohol and prescription drugs, and the officers knew the man was substantially inhibited in his ability to talk, walk or sit and they witnessed his ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Rights Judge Julius N. Richardson

Officers that arrested and jailed a severely intoxicated man who later died of an overdose are not entitled to qualified immunity in a lawsuit alleging they should have sought medical help, a federal appeals court has ruled. The ruling by ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Julius N. Richardson Overdose