Litigation

Pop star Justin Bieber should face the music ' or, more specifically, a jury ' on claims that his hit song "Somebody to Love" infringed on copyrighted material. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has revived the case, more than a year after Bieber's lawyers got the suit dismissed.

Law Firm's Suit Against Popovich Estate Is Dismissed
Dispute over Song Contest Must Go to Arbitration

GA Supreme Court Upholds Integration and Disclaimer Clauses to Prevent Fraud Claims
CT McDonald's Franchise Hit with LGBT Suit
Update on Twin Peaks

Due diligence is an integral and essential part of corporate transactions, yet for lawyers and their clients, it can be a painful process. In mergers and acquisitions and other dynamic and time-sensitive transactions, due diligence often becomes a bottleneck that slows down deals, a frustration to attorneys and their clients alike.

In Akamai Technologies, the Federal Circuit ruled that there is no direct infringement unless a "single entity" performs each and every step of the claimed method. Therefore, it found no direct infringement because Limelight and its customers were not part of a single entity and the customers were performing the missing step for their own benefit, not Limelight's.

In the long-running Apple v. Samsung dispute, the Federal Circuit has highlighted a marked difference between the effectiveness of trade dress and design patents in protecting the visual characteristics of a product, which could potentially cost Apple hundreds of millions of dollars in lost damages.

Potential liability for data breaches has emerged as a major concern for businesses in the past few years as massive cyber-attacks are increasing, with companies that use or store private customer data electronically or use social media as part of their marketing strategy being the prime targets. These data breaches have contributed to an increase in director and officer (D&O) litigation in connection with cyber incidents, and will continue to do so.

Jurors at the criminal trial of three former Dewey & LeBoeuf executives facing fraud and conspiracy charges heard vivid descriptions of some of the drama that precipitated the firm's bankruptcy filing in May 2012 from former litigation partner Ralph Ferrara, whose testimony continued late last month.