226 results for 'court:"USDC Western District of Texas "'.
J. Hightower recommends that the district court dismiss a civil rights, RICO, fraud and breach of contract action brought by an individual against the insurer, attorneys representing the insurer, and state government and court employees. The court employees are entitled to qualified immunity from the individual's claims arising from their alleged failure to schedule hearings or respond to transcript requests in an underlying action. The individual's claim against the insurer under the Fourteenth Amendment should also be dismissed for failure to allege facts supporting a conspiracy between the insurer and state actors. The individual's RICO claim should be dismissed for failure to plausibly allege the existence of a racketeering enterprise.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Hightower, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv337, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Fraud, Racketeering
J. Hightower partially grants the manufacturer's motion to compel production of documents in a trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising and conversion action against the company. The manufacturer alleged that the company sold stolen goods. The company is ordered to produce bank records, financial statements and underlying documents used to prepare a profit spreadsheet. The company is also ordered to produce documents related to customer information. The company is not ordered to reproduce emails in their native format which have already been produced in a PDF file.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Hightower, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1337, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark, Discovery, False Advertising
J. Pitman rules in favor of the government in a civil rights action brought by individuals arising from the Treasury Department's decision to add Tornado Cash to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list. Although the individuals claim Tornado Cash is an open-source software project on a virtual currency blockchain, the government claims it is an organization running a cryptocurrency mixing service laundering money for illicit actors including a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group. The government's designation of Tornado Cash does not exceed its statutory powers and is not inconsistent with its regulations. Tornado Cash has a property interest in the smart contract software programs because they provide it with a means to control and use crypto assets. The government's action does not implicate the First Amendment.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv312, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Rights, Government
J. Rodriguez dismisses a lawsuit brought against a communications company for alleged infringement of computer security patents. ���Merely providing software for a customer to use does not constitute direct infringement of a patent that requires a combination of both software and hardware,��� and the suing company does not allege that the communications company makes infringing hardware.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv1039, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Technology
J. Rodriguez partially grants a motion to exclude filed by a public school district after it was sued by a former student who alleged she was sexually abused by two male teachers and that the school district ignored her outcries. One expert specializes in school responses to Title IX complaints, and while the school district argues this case does not require this ���scientific, technical, or specialized knowledge,��� such objections ���are best saved for a motion in limine or trial.��� The other expert specializes in education administration, and while he may offer relevant testimony in this area, he cannot testify on a specific incident of alleged abuse.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 5:21cv369, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Experts
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J. Howell grants summary judgment to a debt-collection company in a dispute with an alleged debt holder. After being sued for collection, the man countersued and argued the company had violated fair debt-collection practice laws, including because limitations had expired on this debt, but the debt had not in fact expired when the company first sued.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Howell, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1304, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Consumer Law, Banking / Lending
J. Pitman denies a broker���s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by financial regulators over his role in an alleged ���massive fraudulent binary options trading scheme.��� The broker, a Canadian, argued this court did not have jurisdiction, but the broker absolutely had sufficient contacts in the United States to give federal courts jurisdiction, including because he ���singled out customers in the United States.���
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: August 15, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv908, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, Securities, Jurisdiction
[Consolidated.] J. Rodriguez mostly dismisses a patent dispute brought by an Australian lifestyle blog against several major companies such as including Microsoft and Meta for alleged infringement of patents on search algorithms and systems. The cases, initially separated, have been consolidated because ���all three cases concern the same underlying patents��� and center on ���similar arguments.��� For the most part, the asserted patents are not valid because they purport to do ���what humans have long done ��� make recommendations by analyzing a user���s preferences.���
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: 6:23cv108, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Evidence, Patent
J. Pitman partially rejects efforts by a charter school to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Black former COO and CFO of the company, who alleged he was wrongfully fired based on his race and in retaliation because he���d reported alleged ���discrepancies��� in the company���s financial records. That former employee has failed to sufficiently allege that he would not have been terminated but for his race, not least because he simultaneously alleges that he was fired for whistleblowing.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: August 11, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv334, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination, Whistleblowers
J. Counts partially grants summary judgment to both sides in a dispute over oil and gas leases, royalty payments and ���impermissible costs��� that well operators allegedly deducted from their payments to the leaseholder. Among other things, the leaseholder is entitled to summary judgment on a claim that the operators face liability under the Texas Natural Resources Code because the operators failed to make payments to him within the ���applicable period��� as plainly required by law.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Counts, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv20, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Energy, Real Estate, Contract
[Consolidated.] J. Albright denies Apple���s motion for a stay after it was sued by a competitor for alleged infringement of a variety of patents. The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board is currently reviewing some of these patents, and while waiting for resolution of these proceedings would somewhat simplify the issues in the case, the patent board has already ���denied institution��� on some of Apple���s inter partes reviews, meaning that some of the patent claims will ���still need to be resolved by this Court��� regardless.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Albright, Filed On: August 8, 2023, Case #: 6:21cv603, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Patent
J. Pitman grants a law firm���s motion to intervene in a wrongful death case against the city of Austin and city police in which the law firm said it was removed from the case ���without good cause��� despite spending ���significant amounts of time��� investigating the family���s claims and otherwise working on the issue. The law firm has met its burden to intervene, including by showing it has an interest in this case due to a prior contingency fee arrangement and because no other party in this case will advocate for its interests.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv9, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Wrongful Death, Contract
J. Albright denies a company���s motion to stay a case after it was sued by a competitor for alleged infringement of several patents because while the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board is currently conducting reviews regarding these patents, staying the case would nonetheless unfairly prejudice the competitor, including because there could be a ���loss of testimonial and documentary evidence��� necessary for the competitor���s case as ���witnesses become unavailable and memories fade.���
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Albright, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 6:21cv844, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Government, Patent
J. Ezra grants summary judgment to a non-Austinite couple who had sued the city of Austin over the city���s refusal to grant them a short-term rental permit, which the couple argued was essentially an effort by the city to relitigate previous disputes over rental regulations. Among other findings, this court reiterates precedent that a ���homestead��� requirement for certain short-term rentals is unconstitutional because it treats in-city and out-of-city rental owners separately in violation of the Commerce Clause.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Ezra, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1039, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Commerce, Government, Real Estate
J. Pulliam denies summary judgment to an insurer in a dispute with an insuree over hail damage that the insuree argues should have been covered by its policy. The insurer argues summary judgment is appropriate because its policy only covered the insuree���s costs of repairing the damage, but the insurer has separately tried to argue the damage was not covered at all and these two arguments are contradictory.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pulliam, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 5:21cv1031, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Ezra dismisses a convoluted dispute between two investment companies ��� the fifth suit between these parties in the Western District of Texas, in this case centered on an alleged ���scheme of publishing defamatory accusations��� against the suing company in other lawsuits. The suing company has failed to show how the other company has abused court processes or otherwise defamed them. For example, while the suing company argued the competitor at one point used discovery to intentionally publish confidential information, that record was sealed anyways.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Ezra, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv626, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Defamation, Contract
J. Rodriguez partially grants a motion by a civil rights group to compel the production of documents in a massive and ongoing legal dispute centered on the legal and constitutional validity of SB 1, a sweeping election security bill passed by the Texas legislature in 2021. While Texas may withhold some of the requested documents, in the case of others they have improperly asserted privilege or have already waived that privilege ��� for example, by sharing requested documents with third parties.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 5:21cv844, NOS: Voting - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections, Discovery
J. Rodriguez declines a motion to transfer to D.C. federal court this case concerning the alleged kidnapping of a Rwandan activist and the role that a private jet company allegedly played in that kidnapping scheme. The activist has not met his burden to show why D.C. federal court would be clearly more convenient, and in fact the activist asserts ���Texas common law tort claims��� that give this court a greater interest in this case.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 5:20cv1422, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Tort, Venue
J. Pitman declines to a former worker���s motion to reconsider a convoluted case in which she sued her former employer for alleged wrongful termination and other claims and her former employer in turn sued her for allegedly violating the terms of her employment contract, including by allegedly breaching a non-disclosure agreement. While the worker makes a somewhat ���convincing��� argument that a finding of wrongful termination could ���void��� this second case brought against her, she has ���waived��� this argument by waiting too long into this process to make it.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv627, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Employment, Fraud, Contract
J. Ezra grants motions to dismiss by USDA and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department after both agencies were sued by a deer breeder who alleged he was deprived of his property without due process after Texas and federal officials killed deer he was breeding following signs in the deer of Chronic Wasting Disease, a dangerous prion disease similar to hoof-and-mouth. There are a number of fatal flaws with the breeder���s current suit, including the fact that he has not exhausted administrative remedies and the fact that ���in Texas, all wild animals, including deer, belong to the state.���
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Ezra, Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv479, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Agriculture, Conversion