On April 18, 2017, the state of Washington passed House Bill 1493, which sets forth requirements for businesses who collect and use biometric identifiers for commercial purposes. Under HB 1493, a biometric identifier includes a fingerprint, voiceprint, retina, iris or other unique biological patterns or characteristic used to identify a specific individual.
Continue Reading Washington State Passes New Legislation on Collection and Use of Biometric Identifiers

Slack-fill litigation has increased in recent years as class plaintiffs allege that companies are deliberately including empty space in their packaging to deceive consumers into paying higher prices for lower product quantities. Mars, Inc. and its M&M’s Minis are the latest target of a class action.
Continue Reading More Slack Fill Litigation, and Retailers Are Not Exempt

Last month, the American Tort Reform Foundation (“ATRF”) released the 2015-2016 edition of its annual “Judicial Hellholes” report. Each year, the report identifies the venues it deems the least favorable for defendants and highlights notable pro-plaintiff rulings and practices in each jurisdiction.
Continue Reading ATRF Names Nine Jurisdictions as “Judicial Hellholes” for Defendants

As reported in the Privacy & Information Security Law blog, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, in large part, upheld Target’s assertion of the attorney-client privilege and work-product protections for information associated with a privileged, internal investigation of Target’s 2013 data breach.
Continue Reading Federal Court: Attorney-Client Privilege and Work-Product Doctrine Upheld for Materials Associated with Internal Data Breach Investigation

The Eighth Circuit recently issued an opinion in the Interstate Bakeries Corporation bankruptcy case reversing its previous holding that a perpetual royalty-free trademark license constituted an executory contract that could be assumed or rejected in bankruptcy.  The Eighth Circuit, in a rehearing en banc on its earlier decision in Interstate III2, determined that the contract