Portions of a California complaint alleging Amazon skirted antitrust and unfair competition laws need to be kept sealed to protect “highly confidential and competitive information, the disclosure of which could cause significant harm to Amazon,” said Cristina Fernandez, Amazon corporate counsel-competition, in a declaration in support of the motion to seal posted Tuesday (docket CGC-22-601826) in California Superior Court in San Francisco.
Beijing-based Sailed Technology filed a "renewed" application Thursday (docket 2:22-cv-01396) in U.S. District Court in Seattle for an order granting it permission to serve subpoenas on Amazon for deposition testimony and documents connected with a case brought in an intellectual property court in Nanjing, China, in which Amazon Echo and Fire products are alleged to have infringed one or more Sailed patents. Sailed's subpoena request is "no longer an ex parte application," it said. Chinese courts lack the discovery processes common to courts in the U.S., “and the instant application provides the only means by which Sailed can obtain the information sought,” it said. Sailed seeks “limited discovery” from Amazon about the manufacture and sales of Amazon products at issue in the Chinese court, including the identity of the “Chinese entities that manufacture, distribute, and export the accused Amazon products,” said the application. Amazon is due to file an opposition by Oct. 17, and Sailed’s reply is due Oct. 21, it said. The renewed application was filed on Sailed’s behalf by Carmen Bremer of the Bremer Law Group in Seattle, but in recent days, Sailed has brought on James Canfield, Emma Baratta, James Klaiber and Lynn Russo with Hughes Hubbard in New York to handle the case. Four attorneys with Fenwick & West are representing Amazon.
Dish Network’s “baseless” demand to “claw back” license fees it paid the Pac-12 Network to carry a full slate of games for the 2018 and 2019 college football seasons to compensate for the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season runs “contrary to the plain language” of the parties’ license agreement, alleged the network in a breach of contract complaint Thursday (docket 1:22-cv-02620) in U.S. District Court in Denver.
YouTube “unlawfully retains information” that identifies consumers “as having requested or obtained specific video materials or services from Google,” in violation of the New York Video Consumer Privacy Act, alleged a class action Tuesday (docket 5:22-cv-05713) in U.S. District Court in San Jose. Google maintains the digital records in violation of New York law, which requires video rental companies to destroy personally identifiable information (PII) “as soon as practicable” but no later than one year from the date the information is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, said the complaint.
The class action in U.S. District Court in Chicago challenging T-Mobile's 2020 buy of Sprint “has no identifiable nexus to this district,” and so should be transferred to the U.S. District Court in Manhattan and Judge Victor Marrero, who wrote the decision clearing the acquisition to proceed, said T-Mobile Friday in a memorandum of law (docket 1:22-cv-03189) in support of its motion to transfer the case. Seven AT&T and Verizon customers sued in June to “undo the merger” on behalf of millions of subscribers whose subscription rates allegedly soared due to the transaction’s anticompetitive impact.
Micron Technology’s fiscal Q4 results “were impacted by rapidly weakening consumer demand and significant customer inventory adjustments across all end markets,” said CEO Sanjay Mehrotra on an earnings call Thursday for the quarter ended Sept. 1. Fiscal Q4 revenue of $6.64 billion was down 23% sequentially from the previous quarter and was 20% lower year over year.
U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle signed an order Thursday directing his clerk to assign a civil action number to a Sept. 16 ex parte application from Chinese company Sailed Technology for permission to serve deposition and discovery subpoenas on Amazon for alleged patent infringement. Amazon filed a motion Wednesday to deny Sailed’s application, and “in light of the contested nature of this proceeding,” assigning the case a docket number is appropriate, said Lasnik. “Sailed seeks highly invasive and confidential discovery without providing Amazon with an opportunity to respond and correct the record -- an unfairly prejudicial outcome that the Court should not allow,” said Amazon’s motion to deny. The court should order Sailed to refile its application as a “noticed motion” to be heard on a regular calendar, said Amazon. Sailed has brought multiple patent infringement actions in Nanjing, China, alleging Amazon Echo- and Fire-series products infringe one or more Sailed patents, said the ex parte application. Amazon is a named defendant in these actions and Amazon’s name is printed on the package of accused products, it said.
Paychex continues to regularly monitor its “key leading indicators for signs of changes to the macroeconomic trends,” said CEO Martin Mucci on an earnings call Wednesday for fiscal Q1 ended Aug. 31. Though “we have seen some moderation in key issues, we have not yet seen any significant changes,” said Mucci, who's retiring as CEO Oct. 14. Workers at U.S. small businesses “continue to benefit from higher wages,” he said. New jobs continue to grow, “but at a more moderated pace,” and job growth at U.S. small businesses “remains resilient even in the face of a tight labor market and inflation pressures,” he said. Employment levels at Paychex’s existing clients “have continued to increase as they’re finding more people to fill those positions,” he said. Paychex is finding new business starts “are not as strong as they were last year,” said Mucci. After the COVID-19 pandemic began, “we had a lot of people leave big business and start businesses,” he said. Small business employee retention has started to “normalize a bit because some small businesses that started during that period have gone out of business,” he said. “But the demand for employees from small businesses is still needed and they’re still adding employees.”
The “sales process” continues as BlackBerry divests its legacy patent portfolio to Catapult IP Innovations for $600 million (see 2201310001), said CEO John Chen on an earnings call Tuesday for fiscal Q2 ended Aug. 31. “We understand that the length of time that this has taken is frustrating for shareholders, and we are equally as frustrated, if not more, as we work on it every day,” he said. “We firmly believe that divesting the portfolio remains the best option for shareholder value.” Catapult is working to conclude its financing “in parallel to getting government approval,” said Chen. “We believe the turmoil in the financial markets created unexpected challenges for their original financing syndicate.” There has been “much interest from other parties wanting to step in to take their place,” he said. BlackBerry also is finalizing its plan to “restart” the patent “monetization engine ourselves, should that be necessary,” he said. The “macro environment” for automotive “remains a mixed picture with varying dynamics across regions and OEMs,” said Chen. The Chinese market, where BlackBerry won several designs recently, “appears to be bouncing back, due to the end of some COVID-related shutdowns and the impact of robust stimulus measures,” he said. But in North America and Europe, “there appears to be a short-term contraction with certain chip supplies, constraining the ability of OEMs to build inventory and meet demand,” he said. “Going forward, the impact of rising interest rates” on consumer financing “creates the possibility of future choppiness,” he said.
An Aug. 25 consumer fraud class-action complaint in Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, alleging Amazon’s Subscribe & Save automatic-renewal purchase program entraps consumers belongs instead in U.S. .District Court in Chicago, said Amazon in a notice of removal Monday (docket 1:22-cv-05225). The Chicago federal court has “original jurisdiction” under the Class Action Fairness Act because the putative class includes more than 100 members, there is minimal diversity of citizenship and the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million, said Amazon’s notice.