24 results for 'judge:"Snyder"'.
J. Snyder denies a patent holder's motion to amend judgment or in the alternative, motion for a new trial, on its willfulness claim in a patent infringement dispute. The court found in favor of the alleged infringer on the patent holder's willfulness claim. The patent holder has not shown that the conduct rose to the level of "wanton, malicious and bad-faith behavior required for willful infringement." The patent holder has not sufficiently identified which testimony it alleges was inadmissible or how the court relied on that testimony in its findings of fact and conclusions of law. "Leave to amend to address post-suit willfulness would not be appropriate."
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 2:18cv7090, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent
J. Snyder grants an airport's motion to dismiss a concession lease agreement dispute with a company that was providing online car parking services and operating airport lounges. The company alleges that after it declined to make a charitable contribution requested by the airport board president, the airport changed its scoring methodology so that the company would lose its bid. The company alleges that the airport then did not pay the full termination payment. The company did not present fraud claims in compliance with the California Government Claims Act but is granted leave to amend.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv4909, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Contract
J. Snyder denies in part an investment consulting group's motion to dismiss a pension fund's allegations of breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA. The pension fund alleges that the investment consulting group recommended a program management company and concealed information regarding the company's lack of experience and its owner's financial difficulties. The pension fund later found that some portfolio companies the management company had invested in were "worthless" and claims the consulting group failed to properly investigate the program management company. The pension fund has ERISA standing and has sufficiently pleaded its breach of fiduciary duty claim under ERISA. The fund is granted leave to amend its remaining claims.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv7726, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Fiduciary Duty
J. Snyder denies a company's motion to dismiss a business founder's allegations that after acquiring his business, the company violated the put agreement by failing to pay his retention bonus or fund the purchase of his remaining shares. Diversity jurisdiction has been established. The founder has sufficiently alleged his promissory fraud claim. The put agreement does not waive the founder's right to a jury trial. A stay is not warranted, as the arbitration proceedings are limited to employment agreement disputes, while this matter is regarding a put agreement dispute.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv9055, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Snyder denies in part a cannabis company's motion to dismiss an investor's claims of fraud and breach of contract after he requested the return of his investment and the company did not return the funds. The investor alleges that the company knowingly misrepresented the existence of the company, as well as its financial status, permits, and ability to conduct business in the state with required approvals. The investor has sufficiently alleged breach of contract, intentional misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, concealment and false promise claims.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv3304, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Contract
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J. Snyder grants L'Oreal's motion for terminating sanctions in a patent dispute over a hair-coloring dispensing system. The court found that the accused products did not infringe upon the patent, and that the patent holder did not allege a trade secret and that the information in the patent could not be protected as a trade secret. L'Oreal asserts that documents presented in the first amended complaint were inauthentic. A forensic expert determined that some documents had been edited after litigation began. Evidence shows that the patent holder "acted willfully, in bad faith, and with fault by repeatedly fabricating, destroying, and withholding important evidence."
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 2:18cv364, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Sanctions, Trade Secrets
J. Snyder grants a photographer's motion for default judgment in a copyright infringement dispute with a real estate services company. The photographer alleges that the company used one of her photos without permission and without credit. The photographer sent a cease and desist letter, but the company did not respond. The photographer has sufficiently alleged copyright infringement. The photographer is awarded $22,000 in statutory damages and $1512 in costs.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv5528, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Damages
J. Snyder denies a hotel's motion for judgment on the pleadings regarding a contract dispute with an architectural firm and denies in part its motion for judgment on the pleadings regarding the architectural firm's copyright infringement claim stemming from a contract to provide architectural design services for a new hotel. The firm alleges that its architectural designs were used without permission or payment. The firm has "adequately pled its claim for copyright infringement at this stage by alleging its ownership of the drawings and plans, its registration of the copyright, and the infringement" by the hotel.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 8:22cv459, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Contract
J. Snyder denies the city's motion to dismiss an investor's fraud and negligence claims, stemming from a cannabis permit consulting company of city employees who defrauded him of $900,000 with a sham consulting agreement for an application to open a cannabis business which cost other applicants $2857. Federal charges were brought against the architects of the fraudulent scheme. The city then sent the investor a notice threatening to terminate its state cannabis license if it did not drop the instant lawsuit. The investor has sufficiently alleged that the city failed to supervise its employees which permitted them to defraud the investor and that the city should have been aware of the corruption of the cannabis process due to FBI raids on some of those employees. It is premature to dismiss the investor's fraud claims.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv384, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, Negligence, Racketeering
J. Snyder grants an individual's motion to set aside default judgment against him for failure to appear at a court-ordered hearing. The individual was ordered to pay $1.6 million in damages. The individual claims that he was not aware that the case had been continuing without his participation and without any attorneys representing him, and therefore the default judgment is void. There is no evidence in the record that a meaningful effort was made to locate the individual to serve him, beyond publishing notice in a newspaper in Los Angeles despite knowing that the individual did not reside in California.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 2:16cv6196, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tort
J. Snyder grants the US Postal Service's motion for summary judgment regarding an employee's allegations of disability and age discrimination and retaliation. The employee alleges that she was unfairly issued a "letter of warning" claiming that her walking pace had slowed. The letter of warning was expunged from her record after she protested it due to work-related injuries she was experiencing at the time and she testified that the expunged letter of warning had no effect on her employment. She also alleges that she was forced to leave work early multiple times because there was no work available within her work restrictions. The employee "has offered inconsistent assertions regarding certain of the key events on which her claims are based."
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: January 2, 2024, Case #: 2:20cv11398, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Snyder enters findings of fact and conclusions of law that an LED module manufacturer has not shown that a competitor's infringement of its patent was willful. The manufacturer showed that the competitor infringed on its “Unified Driver and Light Source Assembly For Recessed Lighting” patent, and the court previously issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the competitor from making or selling the infringing versions of its light modules. The competitor changed its design immediately after receiving the cease-and-desist letter. "Nothing in the 12-day pre-suit notice period suggests willfulness."
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 2:18cv7090, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent
J. Snyder denies a marketing company's motion to dismiss Volkswagen's breach of contract claims. Volkswagen alleges that the marketing company failed to indemnify and defend it in an underlying suit where a consumer alleged violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act based on telephone calls and voicemail messages. The standard terms and conditions of the agreement apply and the indemnity provision may be triggered without finding that the marketing company breached its contractual obligations. Volkswagen has stated a plausible claim for equitable indemnity.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv6599, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Contract
J. Snyder grants in part a homeowner’s motion in limine in an insurance coverage dispute regarding claims for damage caused to her home by fire, ash and rain. The insurer is precluded from arguing that a basement wall claim was the basis for the homeowner’s claim. Evidence of claims by other insureds is inadmissible. Undisclosed expert witnesses are excluded. One expert is precluded from offering engineering opinions or opinions on whether the engineering reports have merit.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: October 20, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv172, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Experts, Discovery
J. Snyder denies in part an individual's motion for partial summary judgment in an insurance coverage dispute. The individual alleges that the insurer did not pay full coverage on her "all risk" policy for fire and ash damage to her home following the Thomas Fire, then did not pay full coverage for rain damage following significant rainfall the following month, when soot and ash clogging the gutters and drainage system caused water to flow into the home. A genuine dispute of material facts exists regarding whether the insurer was "substantially prejudiced" by the homeowner's alleged failure to disclose relevant documents and her employee's experiments.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: October 20, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv172, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance
J. Snyder grants an insurance company's motion for partial summary judgment regarding an insured's bad faith claim stemming from the insurer's initial failure to defend the insured in an underlying action. The insured has a general liability coverage policy and forwarded counterclaims in a construction defect suit to the insurer, who replied that it had no duty to defend due to a "property damage caused by your work exclusion." There must be a "causal connection between the insurer's bad faith and the insured's damages." It would be inappropriate to allow the insured to bring a bad faith claim "since there has been no excess judgment or functional equivalent."
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv9329, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance
J. Snyder grants the SEC's motion for default judgment and permanently enjoins a beverage company from future violations of the Securities Act. The SEC alleges that individuals falsely promoted the company to investors, including overstating revenue and falsely claiming that the company had received acquisition offers for hundreds of millions of dollars. The SEC alleges that the individuals misappropriated half of the $15 million that the company raised and used it for personal expenses. In the absence of default judgment, the SEC would have no way to enforce the Securities Act or the Exchange Act against the company and individuals. The SEC has shown that the company is liable for fraud and that it sold stock without filing a registration statement with the SEC.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv7339, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Securities
J. Snyder grants an insurance company's motion for summary judgment regarding a commercial general liability policy. The insurer seeks declaratory relief that it has no duty to indemnify the insured in an underlying action where an individual cut off several fingers while using a table saw with the guard removed. The saw belonged to the insured, who had removed the guard for cleaning, then forgotten to replace it. The insurance coverage policy contains an unlicensed contractor exclusion and the insured did not hold a contractor's license and was doing unlicensed carpentry work. The exclusions are "conspicuous, plain, and clear" and the insured has not provided a basis for precluding enforcement of the exclusion.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv5477, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance
J. Snyder grants a vessel owner's motion for summary judgment in a contract dispute with the cargo owner over aviation jet fuel taken by vessel from Singapore to California. The cargo owner accepted delivery of the cargo without confirming that the vessel owner had been paid for freight and related charges and has not paid the vessel owner under the bills of lading. The cargo owner is bound by the bills of lading and evidence establishes its "acceptance and actual receipt of the goods." The cargo owner is liable for payment of the freight and related charges.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: June 28, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1545, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Maritime, Contract
J. Snyder grants a trustee, who is the former minister of defense of Kuwait, and the government of Kuwait's motion to file an amended complaint contesting forfeiture of real property and assets allegedly purchased with embezzled funds. The trustee alleges that he is acting on behalf of the head of the Kuwaiti royal family, former Amir, and his wife. The trustee acted diligently in seeking leave to amend and "has provided a sufficient explanation for his failure to comply with the scheduling order."
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv6314, NOS: Other - Forfeiture/Penalty, Categories: Forfeiture
J. Snyder grants a retirement plan's motion for summary judgment regarding an individual's allegations that the plan erroneously disbursed his entire retirement savings account balance to his ex-wife due to an erroneous qualified domestic relations order. Because the individual's ex-wife received a larger portion of the individual's savings account than she was entitled to, the amount he had to pay his ex-wife from his retirement account was reduced. The individual has not suffered any damage and payment of money damages to him would result in double recovery.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv8926, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights