Apr 11
Reebok and Nike have reached a settlement in their dispute over sales of Tim Tebow merchandise. Nike had filed suit in March, alleging that Reebok was improperly selling sporting apparel referencing the football superstar’s new team affiliation (Tebow was traded from the Denver Broncos to the New York Jets in March). Nike asserted that it …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/04/reebok-agrees-to-pull-tebow-apparel-from-shelves-in-licensing-dispute/
Apr 05
After a jury trial, ATA Airlines (ATA) won a nearly $66 million verdict against Federal Express Corporation (FedEx). FedEx appealed that ruling. In ATA Airlines, Inc. v. Federal Express Corp., No. 11-1382 (7th Cir. Dec. 27, 2011), a distinguished panel consisting of Justices Easterbrook, Posner, and Wood criticized the complex damages analysis accepted by the …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/04/case-provides-primer-on-regression-analysis-and-what-can-go-wrong/
Mar 06
In California multiple (usually defense-oriented) articles are being published about the importance of a class action trail reversal in re: Duran v. US Bank National Association, California Court of Appeal, 1st Appellate Dist., (February 6, 2012). The articles incorrectly claim that statistical sampling cannot be used to prove liability in a class action case. The …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/03/duran-class-action-reversal-not-near-as-important-as-suggested/
Feb 13
Oracle and competitor SAP went to trial over copyright infringement admitted by a now-closed TomorrowNow that SAP acquired. SAP acknowledged liability of their acquired company, and apologized for the infringement. In September 2011, a jury awarded Oracle $1.3 billion, but the U.S. District Court judge reduced the award, offering Oracle the opportunity to either accept …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/02/oracle-rejects-272-million-and-opts-for-a-second-damages-trial/
Feb 02
In late January, the IRS issued final regulations regarding the taxation of personal injury litigation damages. The regulations provide guidance regarding tax law changes included in the Small Business Job Protection Act passed in 1996. Specifically: Litigation settlements are excluded from gross income for damages received on account of physical injuries or sickness. Damages from …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/02/irs-issues-final-regulations-on-taxation-of-personal-injury-damages/
Jan 19
A creditor-friendly, minority view comes from a First Circuit District Court. If this rationale catches on, this could have a significant impact on bankruptcy preference litigation. Generally speaking, a “preference” under Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code is a payment of an old (or “antecedent”) debt. The Bankruptcy Code allows a bankrupt company to recover …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/01/possible-double-counting-%e2%80%9cnew-value%e2%80%9d-in-bankruptcy-preference-actions/
Jan 17
In a recent report issued by Munich Re, a reinsurance group in Germany, 2011 was the costliest year in history for natural disasters with $380 billion in economic losses. Although some believe that global warming will continue to increase both the number and the extent of natural disasters, this report shows that 2011 was more about the geographic location, and less about the cause …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/01/natural-disasters-economic-losses-hit-record-high-in-2011/
Jan 02
In Spine Solutions vs. Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Case No. 2:07-02175-JPM-dkv (W.D. Tenn. Nov. 23, 2011), a District Court ordered a new trial on damages based on the Federal Circuit’s ruling in Uniloc USA, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 632 F.3d 1292 (Fed. Cir. 2011). In the Uniloc case, the widely-used 25% royalty rule was rejected as …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/01/25-reasonable-royalty-rule-is-rejected-even-with-no-objection/
Dec 02
Lost profits are typically understood to yield higher damages than reasonable royalties, but this is not always the case. Higher reasonable royalty damages most frequently occur when the patent holder (inventor) is not in a position to exploit the invention by manufacturing the product himself. In such event, (i) there are no realistic profits to …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/12/federal-circuit-again-redefines-a-reasonable-royalty/
Nov 20
The District Court appointed an independent expert on the issue of damages pursuant to rarely-used Rule 706 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The report will likely be made public soon. No doubt, the District Court is frustrated by the wide range of damage claims that the parties are offering, and is attempting to reign …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/11/court-appointed-expert-will-likely-have-the-final-word-on-damages-in-oracle-vs-google/
