Category: Civil and Business Litigation
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When can one company enforce trademark rights against another?
A business’s brand can draw consumers in or potentially alienate them. Organizations often invest huge amounts of money to develop a brand and market to consumers. A company’s logo or trademarked image can play an important role in setting it apart from the competition. Unfortunately, simply registering a trademark does not automatically protect a business…
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Getting photos off the internet could land you in trouble
Grabbing a photo off the web is usually about as easy as hitting “right-click” with your cursor and saving it to your computer. People do it all the time with memes and other interesting things they see. However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because an image or photo isn’t watermarked that it’s…
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Ikea responds to unsafe product concerns in California, nationally
Is Swedish furniture maker Ikea’s response to a defective product concern adequate or abysmal? Some commentators think that the company has acted ethically and diligently in a safety matter involving many millions of chests and dressers sold to consumers across the United States. Consumer Product Safety Commission Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle is one supporter.…
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Regulators cite concerns with proposed AT&T/Time Warner hook up
Company mergers are central parts of the business landscape in California and across the country, with their combinations often spelling a win-win formula for two joined entities. Given their consolidation of resources and power, though, they are also often targets of scrutiny for government regulators concerned with open competition in the American marketplace. Longstanding federal…
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NDA disputes re California companies can get interesting
One company is an established tech enterprise headquartered in Florida. The other is a just-coming-to-the-party California startup. The following is their connected story, which is borne of acrimony and marked by contractual complexity. The former company, Citrix, employs workers in Raleigh, North Carolina. So too does Egnyte, the latter entity. Several Citrix employees recently left…
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Looming litigation in the wake of a mammoth security breach
“So far, the alleged injury is vague, very indefinite for most people,” says one legal analyst commenting in the wake of what has been described as one of the largest security hacks to have ever occurred in the United States. Equifax fervently hopes that things stay just the same. Because if they don’t, and increasingly…
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Online shopping sales tax issue: Will SCOTUS take the case?
Imagine politicians in one state purposefully drafting legislation to fail in its first assessment by a court. That is precisely what has happened in South Dakota, with the national publication Bloomberg noting that a statute enacted by legislators there “was specifically drafted so the state’s highest court could quickly reject it and send it up…
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Business formation variables: getting those IP ducks in a row
An industry commentator notes in an intellectual property-themed article relevant to business startups that many entrepreneurs materially neglect paying timely attention to a critically important matter when they begin their enterprises. And here is an additional thing, notes IP specialist Tom Kulik: That inattention is not confined to novice business actors with no real understanding…
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An obviously big focal point in construction projects: cranes
We note on a relevant page of our website at Larson & Gaston, LLP, in Pasadena, that “commercial real property issues … can open up significant legal exposure and costs.” We further stress on that page that the sources of those issues are wide-ranging, including construction-related disputes. A recent article authored by the insurance publication Claims Journal…
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Product liability scenario continues to play out for General Motors
For obvious reasons, the largest car manufacturing company in the United States is doing everything it reasonably can to stay ahead of a potential tidal wave of litigation that is imminently heading its way and the attendant liability of massive proportions it could trigger. Notwithstanding that effort, though, a recent national news report indicated that,…
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Defective products, safety recalls: 2016 denoted as singular year
Here are a couple quick and obvious realities related to manufactured products that are made available to consumers through the market mainstream. First, and notwithstanding the efforts of product designers, makers, wholesalers, retailers and other parties to ensure safety, problematic features do occasionally surface with some goods and merchandise. As a result, safety recalls are…
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California insurers facing unwanted regulatory scrutiny
Does it owe to purposeful bad-faith actions or, rather, the simple inability to conduct proper oversight and maintain accurate records? Either way, says the director of California’s Department of Managed Health Care, it’s “a mess.” “It” is the findings in a recently concluded state report that are, by any measuring stick, truly dismal. The data…
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California insurers facing unwanted regulatory scrutiny
Does it owe to purposeful bad-faith actions or, rather, the simple inability to conduct proper oversight and maintain accurate records? Either way, says the director of California’s Department of Managed Health Care, it’s “a mess.” “It” is the findings in a recently concluded state report that are, by any measuring stick, truly dismal. The data…
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Notorious LA-area natural gas blowout case settles
Something as big as the mass spewing of gas in late 2015 from the Aliso Canyon underground storage facility near Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley was bound to spark litigation. As well as a notable outcome. That outcome was publicly revealed last week, with a lawsuit relating to what has been denoted as…
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Complex business litigation ends with bang: $500 million in damages
Although they asked for eight times that amount, the half a billion in damages that ZeniMax Media was awarded by a jury in a federal trial last week was welcomed, with the company’s chairman telling reporters in the wake of the case that, “We appreciate the jury’s finding.” At the same time, California-based Facebook, which…
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Business litigation: What Los Angeles boards need to know
Recent news articles have brought Wells Fargo’s Board of Directors under scrutiny. The company is involved in ongoing business litigation due to claims that Wells Fargo management coerced employees into the creation of thousands of fake accounts through unrealistic and even aggressive sales goals. As far back as 2013, the Los Angeles Times began reporting that the…
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What should you consider before a business lawsuit?
Before filing a lawsuit, or being the recipient of one, there are a few different things one must think about. If someone files an allegation, take it seriously. Even if the allegations are false, not taking the case seriously could give them a foothold to actually pursue a successful claim. When heading to court, know that there…
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Litigation results of BP oil spill truly outsized
What’s in a number? Well, you know that a great deal of relevance is involved anytime that the word “billion” is attached to a number-related story. And that relevance is underscored in the United States when litigation is a central component of a story featuring numbers, especially when the figures thrown about are in the…
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Daunting litigation woes confront besieged automaker
Any long-tenured Volkswagen executive who happens to be a fan of famed British rockers Led Zeppelin probably derives a bit of extra special meaning from the group’s song Good Times Bad Times. In fact, that tune might readily come to mind occasionally, given the current reality facing the German automaker. That reality is this: The…
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Common legal claims between businesses
There’s an old saying that a business isn’t successful until it is sued. While there are plenty of businesses that are successful that have not been involved in a lawsuit, it is not uncommon for an enterprise to be accused of breaking the law. If a business owner is served with a summons and complaint,…