This one has rap and animation.
Author Archive
Apple multitouch lawsuit
Farhad Manjoo at Slate thinks the tech firm’s suits against competitors illustrate why “the patent system is in desperate need of reform”. And the New York Times “Bits” ran a chart last week showing the spaghetti-like tangle lawsuits among various mobile phone makers. More: Ryan Kim, San Francisco Chronicle.
“Fair wards of court have faded into mothers and grandmothers”
An appellate court in New York has ordered parties to “proceed to an immediate trial” in the case of Lance International v. First National City Bank, which has been pending in court since 1966 [John Eligon, NYT “City Room” via Jack Chin, PrawfsBlawg; reference]
“Gripe site prevails in domain cybersquatting case”
“A gripe site that incorporates a company’s entire trademark into its domain is still protected under the First Amendment, a US District Judge has ruled.” The site was posted by a disgruntled customer of the Career Agents Network. [Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica]
Claim: furniture makers responsible for firefighters’ anguish
Nine firefighters died in a blaze at a Charleston, S.C., furniture store in 2007. Now four other firefighters who were on the scene that night, along with two of their wives, have filed a lawsuit claiming emotional distress and depression. They have chosen to sue “the Sofa Super Store, its owners and several furniture manufacturers,” the latter on the theory that their wares should have been made of less combustible materials. [Charleston City Paper, with links to complaints, via Sheila Scheuerman, TortsProf] On the erosion of the old “firefighters’ rule” which prevented rescuers from suing over injuries sustained in the course of their rescues, see our tag on the subject. On the development of lawsuits attributing liability after fires to whole groups of makers of furniture and other furnishings on the ground that they furnished fuel for the conflagration, see this retrospective (scroll) on the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire of 1977, and, relatedly, our posts on the “Great White” Rhode Island concert fire.
Clips of Jon Stewart shows
Viacom/Comedy Central retreats from some legal rumblings on behalf of a show itself known for its clever use of video clips from other sources. [Levy, CL&P]
Better late than never dept.
Billions in costs and who knows how many discontinued businesses and products later, the Consumer Product Safety Commission agrees it would be a good idea to do an economic impact analysis of CPSIA. [Commissioner Anne Northup]
Hiking the cost of home health care
The Labor Department may abolish the longstanding exemption of home health care aides from federal overtime pay requirements. The shift could greatly increase costs for providing agencies, and perhaps also have effects on quality, since agencies might decide to protect themselves by requiring more aides to clock out and go home at points when housebound patients could really benefit from their continued assistance [Weiner, Epstein Becker Green Prima Facie Law Blog]
Device to auto-shut-down cellphones when car starts?
Yes, that’s what Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has actually suggested. Think of what a great idea in emergencies! [Bedard/U.S. News via Radley Balko, Reason “Hit and Run”]
“Judge chops lawyer fees by $1M”
A North Carolina Business Court judge has cut a proposed fee award in an investor class action arising from the Wells Fargo/Wachovia merger “because he thought lawyers had charged too much per hour and spent too much time working on the case.” [Triangle Business Journal]