Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert Blog

On November 3, 2015

The New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) has announced on its webpage that the submission deadline for New Year’s Eve All Night Permit Applications is November 16, 2015. The SLA has outlined the criteria that will be considered in deciding whether to issue such permits. They include: timely filing of the application; licensee’s disciplinary history (including any pending charges); and whether, given the nature of the event, the licensee has adequate facilities and security plans in place.

Third Circuit Holds That Absent Class Members Need Not Show Standing and Reiterates Comcast’s Reiteration of Basic Rule 23 Principles

by Gibbons P.C.

Posted in Class Action Defense

On October 29, 2015

In a precedential opinion in Neale v. Volvo Cars of North America, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that putative class members need not establish Article III standing, and emphasized that the Supreme Court’s decision in Comcast v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1426 (2013) “was not breaking any new ground” because “the predominance analysis was specific to the antitrust claim at issue.”

NLRB Ruling is Problematic for Employer Workplace Investigation Policies

by Gibbons P.C.

Posted in Labor

On October 26, 2015

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) decided that an employer’s workplace investigations policy, which recommends employees keep an internal investigation confidential, violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) because it interfered with employees’ rights to communicate regarding matters affecting terms and conditions of employment. The ruling creates a quandary for employers to maintain effective workplace investigation policies and practices including confidentiality statements in anti-harassment policies.

Supreme Court to Review Willful Infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 284

by Samuel H. Megerditchian

Posted in Patent

On October 26, 2015

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the standard for willful infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 284. The Court was specifically asked to reject the rigid two-part test set forth by the Federal Circuit in In re Seagate, 497 F.3d 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2007), which requires the court to determine whether an alleged infringer: (1) acted despite an objectively high likelihood that its actions constituted infringement of a valid patent; and (2) this objectively-defined risk was either known or so obvious that it should have been known to the accused infringer.

Federal Circuit En Banc Reaffirms Laches as a Defense to Patent Suits

by Christopher H. Strate

Posted in Patent

On October 19, 2015

Recently, the Federal Circuit, sitting en banc, ruled in SCA Hygiene Prods. Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Prods., LLC that laches remains a viable defense in patent infringement actions. In doing so, the Federal Circuit rejected the extension of the Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., which held that the laches defense does not apply in copyright cases because the copyright statute provides a three year statute of limitations for bringing an infringement suit.

No Safe Harbor: State Can Face Liability Under Spill Act

by Paul M. Hauge

Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On October 13, 2015

Be careful what you wish for. That may be the message of the Appellate Division’s September 23 opinion in NL Industries, Inc. v. State of New Jersey, No. A-0869-14T3. Affirming a “thoughtful and erudite” 2014 Law Division opinion by Judge Douglas K. Wolfson, the appellate court held that the onerous liability regime of the 1976 Spill Compensation and Control Act (commonly known as the Spill Act), which imposes strict, joint, and several liability for cleanups on both the dischargers of hazardous substances and on the much broader class of parties “in any way responsible” for the hazardous substances, is equally applicable to the State. As a result, the State may be responsible for a portion of the remediation of a contaminated site on the shoreline of Raritan Bay that will likely cost more than $75 million.

State of Vermont v MPHJ Technology Investments: A Case Study in the Timeliness and Basis of Removal

by Robert E. Rudnick

Posted in Patent

On October 12, 2015

In State of Vermont v MPHJ Technology Investments, what appears initially as a factual simple matter, presents a complex procedural lesson in the timeliness and basis for removal of a matter from state court to federal court. In 2012, a number of Vermont businesses began receiving correspondence from MPHJ shell corporations alleging patent infringement. As a pattern, a business would receive an initial letter from the MPHJ corporation saying that the business had been identified as using patented technology. The letter included a survey to determine infringement and offered a licensing arrangement. If there was no response from Letter No. 1, Letter Nos. 2 and 3 would follow from MPHJ’s counsel, stating that the lack of a response was an admission and implying that litigation would follow.

Delaware Supreme Court Says that Minority Stockholder Which Manages Company’s Day-to-Day Affairs is not a “Controlling Stockholder” and Confirms that Mandatory Stockholder Approval of Merger Transaction Compels Application of Business Judgment Rule

by Christopher Walsh

Posted in General Litigation

On October 8, 2015

The Delaware Supreme Court’s recent decision in Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC makes two important points about corporate governance litigation. First, the court rejected the novel argument that an owner of less than 1% of a company’s stock could be considered a “controlling stockholder” because it managed the company’s day-to-day affairs under a management agreement. Second, the court confirmed that when a transaction has been approved by a majority of the company’s disinterested stockholders, the highly deferential business judgment rule should govern any challenges to the transaction, even if the stockholder vote was statutorily required and not voluntary.

Court Orders Nonparty Bank to Produce Documents Said to be Located Abroad in Trademark Counterfeiting Case

by Wendy R. Stein

Posted in Trademark Counterfeiting / Trademarks

On October 7, 2015

After more than five years of litigating access to documents requested in a subpoena directed to a nonparty foreign bank, the district court in Gucci Am. Inc. v. Weixing Li has ordered the bank to produce the documents, despite objections from the bank that production would violate Chinese law. The decision written by Judge Sullivan of the Southern District of New York, is an important decision for brand owners seeking to obtain financial documentation related to the sale of allegedly counterfeit goods.

Federal Circuit Considering En Banc Rehearing in Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc.

by Gibbons P.C.

Posted in Patent

On October 6, 2015

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is deciding whether to reconsider en banc its panel decision in Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc. Numerous amici have lined up in support of rehearing. At stake is what room recent U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence leaves for obtaining patent claims involving diagnostic innovations that use established processes.