Posts Tagged: "class action"

Restaurants Take Aim at Google, Alleging Deceptive Online Ordering Scheme

The operators of a number of Lime Fresh Mexican Grill franchises have filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California on behalf of a nationwide class of restaurants claiming that Google, LLC has engaged in deceptive practices and misappropriation of their goodwill and tradenames by directing consumers to Google-operated pages for online ordering and delivery. The complaint explains that Google changed the way it displays restaurant search results in 2019, confusing customers into ordering through Google-designed ordering buttons and pages, thereby robbing the restaurants of direct online orders. Instead, customers are fooled into ordering through delivery service providers Google has contracted with, which charge exorbitant fees to the restaurants, says the complaint.

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against U.S. Government Alleging PTAB Violates Takings Clause and Due Process

On Wednesday, May 9th, Oklahoma-based patent owner Christy Inc. filed a class action complaint in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against the United States seeking just compensation for the taking of the rights of inventors’ and patent owners’ patent property rights effectuated by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Members of the proposed class would include all owners of patents which were deemed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to include patentable subject matter which were later invalidated by the PTAB.

Supreme Court of Canada Rules on the Enforceability of Forum Selection Clauses in Online Contracts

The Supreme Court of Canada has just released a decision (Douez v. Facebook, Inc., 2017 SCC 33) that provides a framework for assessing the enforceability of forum selection clauses. The decision continues the trend of affording protection to consumers in the face of considerations of uneven bargaining power in un-negotiated online contracts referred to as “contracts of adhesion”… A few years ago, Facebook released an advertising product that used the name and picture of Facebook users, allegedly without their consent. BC’s Privacy Act offers a cause of action for breach of privacy rights. The Plaintiff in this case sought to adjudicate the alleged infringement of her privacy rights in BC courts (as part of a class action comprising Facebook users).

Spotify reaches $43.5M settlement over class action suit on unpaid royalties for copyrighted songs

The $43.5 million from the recent Spotify settlement will reportedly go towards a separate fund to compensate publishers and songwriters. Such payments made by Spotify and other streaming services to copyright owners are known as mechanical royalties. Mechanical royalties are usually paid when a copy of a song is made, such as when a music publisher creates a CD containing copyright-protected songs. Although Spotify doesn’t sell or distribute physical media, it does owe mechanical royalties when it streams a copy of a song to a user.

LegalZoom Sued in Class Action for Unauthorized Law Practice

While the LegalZoom model is one that has a lot of appeal, it seems to me that it is just too difficult to pull off without engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. While many think that lawyers just complain about LegalZoom and others, the truth is that if there is the unauthorized practice of law those who ultimately suffer are the customers/clients.