Case Updates

David M. GoldsteinOrrick LLP In a decision that is sure to please patent assertion entities, on December 1, 2017, several Intellectual Ventures (IV) companies prevailed on summary judgment on antitrust counterclaims that Capital One asserted in response to a patent infringement suit filed by Intellectual Ventures I LLC and Intellectual Ventures II LLC in the district court in Maryland. Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Capital One Financial Corp., No. 8:14-cv-00111-PWG, Memorandum and Opinion, ECF No. 686 (D. Md. Dec. 1,… Read more

Harrison (Buzz) Frahn, Caitlyn Chacon, Marissa LambertSimpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP On November 4, 2017, Judge Margo Brodie of the Eastern District of New York denied the North American Soccer League, LLC’s (“NASL”) request for a preliminary injunction blocking the United States Soccer Federation, Inc.’s (“USSF”) revocation of NASL’s Division II league status for the 2018 professional soccer season. NASL claimed that the preliminary injunction would resolve “the immediate prospect of being driven out of existence as a competitor,” while… Read more

Dear constituency list members of the Insolvency Law Committee, the following is a case update analyzing a recent case of interest: SUMMARY In JPMCC 2007–C1 Grasslawn Lodging, LLC v. Transwest Resort Props. Inc. (In re Transwest Resort Props., Inc.), 801 F.3d 1161 (9th Cir. 2015), a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the “Ninth Circuit”) ruled that a creditor’s appeal of a chapter 11 plan confirmation order should not be dismissed on equitable mootness grounds… Read more

In Zachary v. California Bank & Trust, ___ F.3d ___ , 2016 WL 360519 (9th Cir. Jan. 28, 2016) (“Zachary”), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the “Ninth Circuit”) held that the absolute priority rule, codified in section 1129(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Bankruptcy Code, continued to apply to individual chapter 11 cases following the enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (“BAPCPA”).  In so holding, the Ninth Circuit overruled the decision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate… Read more

On January 21, 2016, the California Supreme Court ruled that the state’s anti-deficiency statute enumerated under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 580b applied to short sales in addition to foreclosures.  Coker v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., S213137, 2016 WL 240901 (Cal. Jan. 21, 2016).  Section 580b states that no deficiency judgment may be obtained by the lender against the borrower when he/she defaults on a purchase money loan and the lender exhausts its security via sale under the deed of… Read more

On December 4, 2015, The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) reached an agreement to end litigation with five of the six defendants stemming from the complaint filed April 15, 2015, against Chad Caldaronello, Derek Nelson, Brian Pacios, Cortney Gonsalves, and Justin Moreira, DBA HOPE Services and HAMP Services.  Litigation against a sixth defendant, Denny Lake, has not settled. The original complaint, which was filed under seal, sought to obtain permanent injunctive relief, rescission of contracts restitution, refund of monies paid, and… Read more

SUMMARY In Windmill Health Products, LLC v. Sensa Products (Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors), LLC, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145685 (N.D. Cal., Oct. 27, 2015), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California held that the Ninth Circuit’s prior ruling that bankruptcy law pre-empted California’s statute permitting an assignee for the benefit of creditors to avoid a preference governed, even though subsequent state court decisions rejected that view. To read the full unpublished decision, click here. FACTS Windmill Health… Read more

On December 14, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court once again upheld the enforceability of class waivers in arbitration agreements. In DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, the Supreme Court reversed a California Court of Appeal's refusal to enforce an arbitration agreement waiving the right to bring class arbitration claims.  The arbitration agreement at issue included a class arbitration waiver specifying that the entire arbitration agreement was unenforceable if the "law of your state" made class arbitration waivers unenforceable. The agreement also declared that… Read more

A district court sitting in California was recently asked to address the enforceability of an out-of-state forum selection clause in a franchise agreement in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Atlantic Marine Constr. Co., Inc. v. United States Dist. Court for W. Dist. of Texas, 134 S. Ct. 568 (2013). As discussed below, the district court circumvented Atlantic Marine by finding that the California Franchise Relations Act (the “CFRA’), at Bus. & Prof. Code § 20040.5, renders the out-of-state forum selection… Read more

SUMMARY In America’s Servicing Co. v. Schwartz-Tallard (In re Schwartz-Tallard), ___ F.3d ___, 2015 WL 5946342 (9th Cir. Oct. 14, 2015), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the “Ninth Circuit”), en banc, held that section 362(k) of the Bankruptcy Code authorizes an award of attorneys’ fees reasonably incurred in a debtor’s prosecution of a suit for damages to provide redress for a violation of the automatic stay.  In so holding, the Ninth Circuit overruled its prior decision in Sternberg v.… Read more