Here are Communications Litigation Today's top stories from last week, in case you missed them. Each can be found by searching on its title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Epic Games “denies each and every allegation” in Google’s Dec. 1 counterclaims asserting Epic “willfully breached” its developer distribution agreement (DDA) with Google (see 2212020038), said Epic’s answer Thursday (docket 3:21-md-02981) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco.
Epic Games violated children’s privacy law and used dark patterns to trick millions of gamers into making unintentional purchases, the FTC said Monday in a record-breaking $520 million settlement with the Fortnite creator.
When the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) issues citations alleging employers failed to address ergonomic hazards in the workplace, Washington law “unconstitutionally presumes employers violated the law and forces them to incur unrecoverable abatement expenses before the government proves that any hazardous safety condition exists,” said Amazon’s opposition Friday in U.S. District Court for Western Washington (docket 2:22-cv-01404) to L&I’s Nov. 18 motion to dismiss.
Mark Rabkin, vice president of Meta Reality Labs and the executive who heads Meta’s Oculus Store, doubts Meta has the internal capability to build its own successful virtual reality fitness app if its acquisition of Within Unlimited and its Supernatural VR fitness app falls through, he testified for the defense Friday in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Jose, in an evidentiary hearing via Zoom on the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block the transaction.
There’s “no evidence” that any of the discovery information that Xfinity Mobile seeks from defendants SellLocked, Guru Holdings and their owner Jakob Zahara in its complaint to thwart allegedly illegal trafficking in stolen phones “is at risk of being destroyed,” said the defendants’ response to XM’s motion for expedited discovery Friday (docket 2:22-cv-01950) in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in Phoenix.
Marriott International seeks summary judgment against defendant Dynasty Marketing Group in its trademark infringement lawsuit to thwart robocallers from impersonating Marriott telemarketers, said its memorandum Friday (docket 1:21-cv-00610) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia in Alexandria. Capping a busy day for docket activity, another defendant, ResortCom International, filed dual motions for summary judgment against Marriott and to dismiss the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
American Tower International (ATI) “improperly withdrew” from an $800 million Latin American wireless project agreement without justification, alleged Terra Towers in a breach of contract suit filed Dec. 12 in the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami.
A woman who shared social media posts of two California high school students allegedly engaging in racist, blackface activity after the 2020 killing of George Floyd isn’t liable for defamation of the students because she’s protected by Communications Decency Act Section 230, California’s Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District ruled Thursday, affirming a trial court’s decision.
Amazon will bring its Dec. 6 demurrer to California’s antitrust complaint against the company to San Francisco County Superior Court March 7, said Amazon in a notice Thursday (docket CGC-22-601826). A demurrer under California law argues that a complaint should be dismissed because it fails to assert facts sufficient to support a cause of action.