Posts

King Pharm. Inc. v. Eon Labs, Inc., 09-1437, concerned a plaintiff’s patent infringement suit under the Hatch-Waxman Act, related to a name brand muscle relaxant used to treat “discomforts associated with acute, painful musculosketal conditions.” In affirming the judgment of the district court in part, the court held that although the district court erred in invalidating several of the claims as unpatentable under section 101, all the claims of the ‘128 and ‘102 patents are ultimately anticipated under 35 U....

A lot goes into the decision of how to package a given product. Who’s the target consumer? What kinds of emotions do certain colors evoke? What font catches the eye? It’s not usually a haphazard process. And with millions of dollars at stake, this is no less true within the candy industry, especially as people catch wind that sugar and corn syrup are somehow “bad for you.” With a tight market, that could be why Dum Dums is suing Tootsie, claiming their packaging is too similar to that of the famous sucker....

Taking a break from attacking liberals, Fox Business recently focused its propaganda machine on “fee-hungry law firms” that file M&A class actions against unsuspecting big businesses on behalf of shareholders. While the profession certainly has its share of overzealous money grubbers, Fox’s analysis of the spike in M&A shareholder lawsuits curiously forgets to mention another, perhaps more prominent, cause: Greedy executives. Setting the scene for its argument, Fox points to a recent incident in which, just hours after announcing a $2....

A group of seven ghost hunters are in custody for committing arson on the historic LeBeau Plantation in Louisiana. The local sheriff says the five Texans and two Louisiana natives had been smoking marijuana and drinking immediately before the incident. (Shocking.) In case you’re wondering, setting a house on fire to attract ghosts is still arson. (Double shocker.) Built in the 1850s, the LeBeau Plantation House was once one of the largest plantations south of New Orleans....

The General Services Administration continues to piece together the reasons behind the erupting johns that injured two employees in Washington, DC. However, new insights behind the GSA’s exploding toilets have emerged. Leaked emails exchanged between GSA workers indicate some feared doing the most necessary of acts. “I am scared to pee” was the subject of one employee’s email. The GSA has been pretty hush about the exploding toilets so far, but internal memos show some cause for concern....

Have a good excuse for getting out of jury duty? Bag it. If the former leader of the free world can show up and serve, so can you. Former President George W. Bush reported for jury duty on Wednesday, destroying everyone else’s chances of skirting jury service on a flimsy excuse. Thanks, Dubya. Former President, Reporting for Duty President Bush reported to the George Allen Courts Building in Dallas and Judge Eric Moye took the opportunity to remind us all that weaseling out of our jury service is bad:...

Most people are dog or cat people, but some people want something a little more exotic, like a oh, we don’t know, a monkey, or a parrot, or hey, how about a fox? Is it legal to own a fox as a pet? Foxy Laws Fox ownership is governed by state laws, which are different from state to state. Here are a few examples. Arkansas In Arkansas, it is unlawful to keep native wildlife as pets....

A courthouse changes when police stand outside with guns – rather than sit inside next to a scanning machine. It has certainly changed for US Judge James L. Robart, who issued a nationwide order stopping President Trump’s now infamous immigration ban. A week ago, it was business as usual. Now Robart needs protection because of online threats. “Ridiculous.” “So called-judge.” “Known liberal sympathizer.” Those are just tweets from the president....

Two law school presidents are calling it quits, leaving beleaguered organizations as the new semester starts. Donald Lively of Arizona Summit School of Law said he has been thinking about it for a while. Don LeDuc, dean and president at Thomas Cooley Law School, is retiring. It’s like the off-season in sports, when coaches sometimes leave their teams. If you didn’t notice, it’s the off-season for law schools. Arizona Summit Lively says he is not abandoning ship....

You probably couldn’t care less about Tom Wolf’s gubernatorial campaign in Pennsylvania. Truth is, he leads by double digits – so having some lawyer who once starred in a so-called “torture porn” film appear in an otherwise unremarkable campaign commercial on his behalf will probably not affect things too much. Besides, the campaign is pulling and editing the ad after Buzzfeed dug up the 2013 horror film. But, as you might expect, our eyes are on the attorney, Alan Benyak, who starred in “Breeding Farm” as Mr....

Police in Farmingham, Mass. arrested President Obama’s uncle, 67-year-old Onyango Obama, on suspicion of driving under the influence over the weekend after he nearly collided with a police cruiser while rolling through a stop sign. Slurring and unsteady on his feet, the man, who has no actual relationship with the President, told police that he would “call the White House” when asked whether he wanted to contact someone about arranging bail....

A Pennsylvania mom changed grades on her kids’ official school records by hacking into the school’s computer system with stolen passwords, investigators say. Catherine Venusto, 45, of New Tripoli, Pa., should get an “A” for effort, but an “F” for poor execution of her alleged crime. She faces six felony charges for unlawful use of a computer, computer trespassing, and altering data, ABC News reports. Venusto allegedly went to great lengths to change grades for her daughter and son....

Patience is a virtue that one school principal in North Carolina did not display last April. Now she faces national scorn and hundreds of dollars in fines for illegally passing a stopped school bus, WNCN reported. When Johneka Simmons Williams was stopped for passing a parked bus, it caused a fuss because she is in charge of child safety at her job. Elementary school principals even authorize school bus routes. According to the incident report, however, the administrator, 36, denied passing the bus and told the officer who pulled her over for the move that she would never do such a thing....

A group of murderers may be getting a second chance to prove their innocence, despite the fact that the evidence, as reported by the media, seems beyond damning. The group that murdered Charles Lambert in 2008, then stole his identity, money, and even tried to sell his house, are all trying to get a retrial over their trial judge’s biased, homophobic comments. And one of them may actually be getting one....

For Willie Ovieda, the good news was that police kept him from committing suicide. The bad news was they arrested him for possessing an assault weapon. In People v. Ovieda, his defense attorney tried to exclude the evidence but the trial judge allowed it. He then pleaded guilty on conditions of probation, 180 days in jail, and mental health treatment. On appeal, Ovieda said the police found the evidence during an unreasonable search....

A petition for a writ of mandate by plaintiff, commonly referred to in the media as the “Octomom”, challenging the probate court’s denial of her motion to dismiss a petition by an individual, a president of a nonprofit corporation, and the court’s appointment of the Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA) to conduct an investigation of the family’s finances is granted where: 1) the probate court erred by denying plaintiff’s motion to dismiss the petition; 2) the individual seeking guardianship has no standing under Probate Code section 1510(a) as the petition seeking appointment of a guardian of the octopulets’ estates should have been dismissed because he has neither pleaded ultimate facts demonstrating the plaintiff has engaged in any financial misconduct, nor alleged any other information warranting court investigation in the plaintiff’s family’s finances; and 3) the probate court’s order for an investigation of the family’s finances is vacated....

As everybody who is anybody knows, Marty Singer is the go-to lawyer in Hollywood. That’s why reality TV contestant Corinne Olympios has hired him in a scandal that recently shut down “Bachelor in Paradise.” Olympios was referred to Singer because, well, everybody in Hollywood goes to him. “Marty Singer, Marty Singer … you lifesaver, you!” movie star Scarlett Johansson gushed at a bar association tribute to the entertainment lawyer. “You are a real-life superhero....

High-speed car chases are par for the course these days. But topless car chases? They are certainly more rare. Enter Erin Holdsworth, 28, who treated police in Bainbridge, Ohio to such a show earlier this month. After leading police on an early-morning, 128-mph car chase, police ordered her out of her car. She was clad only in a see-through tube top, a thong, and a pair of wedge heels. And there’s police dash cam video to prove it....

The California Senate passed a controversial sanctuary law, essentially directing local law enforcement not to report illegal immigrants to federal authorities. The sanctuary law, which is headed to the Assembly and then the governor’s desk for signature, may become the first statewide sanctuary law in the nation. In California, it would prohibit law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, detain, report or arrest people for immigration violations. According to many news reports, more states are likely to follow....

In an age discrimination action, the denial of plaintiff’s motion for prejudgment interest following a judgment in his favor is affirmed where motions for mandatory prejudgment interest were governed by Rule 59(e) and, therefore, by its 10-day filing requirement, and plaintiff’s motion was untimely. Read Winslow v. FERC, No. 08-5228 Appellate Information Argued September 24, 2009 Decided December 1, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Kavanaugh Counsel For Appellant: Richard L. Swick and David H....