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In an action for trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and dilution under the Lanham Act, district court’s dismissal for failure to state a claim is vacated and remanded where plaintiff’s allegations that Google’s recommendation and sale of plaintiff’s mark to its advertisers triggers the appearance of plaintiff’s advertisements and links in a manner likely to cause consumer confusion when a Google user launches a search of plaintiff’s trademark, adequately pleads a use in commerce and is a proper claim under the Lanham Act....

The right to marriage is a fundamental right that cannot be denied to same-sex couples, the Supreme Court ruled this morning in Obergefell v. Hodges. The historic 5-4 opinion, authored by Justice Kennedy, extends the “fundamental right to marry” to gay and lesbian couples throughout the country, just eleven years after the country’s first legally recognized same-sex marriages took place. The decision, based on both due process and equal protection grounds, marks a major victory for the gay rights movement, which has seen a rapid shift from state and federal same-sex marriage bans to a judicial embrace of equal rights for same-sex couples....

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that juvenile offenders can be required to register under Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Despite the defendants’ arguments that SORNA registration undermined the confidentiality provisions of the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act (FJDA), the court determined that Congress intentionally carved out a discretion exception in SORNA. Each defendant-appellant in the case committed an act of juvenile delinquency as a minor, that would have constituted aggravated sexual abuse with children if the defendant had committed the act as an adult....

The final cases on the October 2011 Term Supreme Court calendar have been announced. On Friday, the Court released the April oral arguments schedule. While we’ll have to wait and see if April showers bring May flowers, we can be certain that April oral arguments will yield a flood of opinions in cases dealing with the government’s relationship with Native Americans. Christopher v. SmithKlineBeecham Corp. Examining whether deference is owed to the Labor Secretary’s interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s outside sales exemption and related regulations; and whether the FLSA’s outside sales exemption applies to pharmaceutical sales representatives....

The Supreme Court Justices will return from their long vacations this Monday, ready to kick off the Court’s October 2015 term. They’ll begin as they always do: with ritualized slaughter. Of cert petitions, that is. Monday marks the Court’s “long conference,” where the Justices sift through almost 2,000 petitions for certiorari, rejecting almost all of them. It is, as The New York Times recounts, “where appeals ‘go to die.’” Here’s your insider guide to the killing fields....

A municipality’s petition for review of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) order declaring its ordinance imposing tax on airlines every time one of their flights lands within the municipality’s borders invalid is denied as the Anti-Head Tax Act, 49 U.S.C. section 40116 text unambiguously demonstrates that subsection (c) is not a savings clause for flight-related taxes. Read Township of Tinicum, Delaware County, Pennsylvania v. DOT, No. 08-1830 Appellate Information On Petition for Review of an Order of the United States Department of Transportation...

In Georgia-Pac. Consumer Prods. LP v. Myers Supply, Inc., No. 09-2980, an action for contributory trademark infringement, the court affirmed summary judgment for defendant where 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in discounting plaintiff’s survey evidence and crediting more the testimony from industry insiders, and thus, correctly determined that there is no actual confusion by bathroom consumers; and 2) under Arkansas law, there was a strong presumption that interference with an at-will contract is not improper....

In an appeal from an order sentencing defendant, after a fifteen-year delay, to a one-day term of imprisonment and three years of supervised release with a special condition that she serve six months in a halfway house, the order is vacated where: 1) the Speedy Trial Clause of the Sixth Amendment, which governs the timing of trials, does not apply to sentencing proceedings; but 2) for purposes of a Due Process claim, the delay in the imposition of sentence was not justified by any legitimate reason and caused defendant prejudice insofar as the custodial portion of it threatened to undermine her successful rehabilitation....

Yet another class action has been filed against Gojo, the maker of Purell hand sanitizer, for false advertising. According to the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on March 24, Purell markets its hand sanitizers as an effective means of combating viral and bacterial diseases. However, its products have not been shown to be effective in clinical, controlled studies. The diseases Purell purports to combat include colds, influenza, and norovirus....

The Ninth Circuit just overturned a lower district court decision that favored Big Oil, thereby strengthening protections of critical Alaskan polar bear habitat. The decision restores approximately 187,000 square miles of land-sea to protection under the Endangered Species Act and re-designates the area as “critical habitat” for polar bears. The controversy revolves around a large swatch of territory that includes both land and sea section off Alaska’s coast. Several years ago, disagreement erupted over whether or not the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service had enacted protections intended to cover the Alaskan polar bear in a way that was too arbitrary to be evenly and properly enforced....

For anyone concerned with data privacy, the rights of the accused, criminal law, the Fourth Amendment, the limits of searches incident to lawful arrest, and law enforcement, there are two cases you need to keep an eye on this term: Wurie and Riley. Both cases were granted certiorari this morning, and both involve the search of cell phones as part of a search incident to a lawful arrest (SITA). One, Riley, involved a smartphone, while the other, Wurie, involved a “dumb” flip-phone, but both present the same quandary: should a warrant be required to search the contents of a phone when the urgency typical of a SITA is lacking?...

The Eighth Circuit decided six criminal matters, one immigration case and one involving prisoner civil rights. In US v. Donnell, No. 08-2543, the court of appeals affirmed defendants’ drug conspiracy convictions on the grounds that 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting wiretapped phone recordings, because the danger of unfair prejudice did not substantially outweigh their probative value on the issue of defendant’s involvement in the conspiracy; 2) any error in introducing evidence concerning one defendant’s prior arrests was harmless because they did not have a substantial influence on the jury’s verdict; 3) the various defendants, all of whom were alleged to be members of the same overarching conspiracy, were properly joined; and 4) the mere fact that one defendant was unaware of the more distant members of the chain-conspiracy does not defeat the conspiracy charge....

Two high school boys won their case to participate in girls’ dance competitions in Minnesota, a federal appeals court decided. The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals said the Minnesota State High School League could not deny the boys based on their gender. In D.M. v. Minnesota State High School League, the appeals panel said it was unconstitutional to ban them from competition. It was a significant turn-around because a trial judge had ruled against the teens....

Call it ‘Making a Murderer – the Sequel.’ That’s because Brendan Dassey, a convicted murderer featured in the Netflix documentary, will get another chance at infamy or redemption. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to rehear a decision that he involuntarily confessed to raping and killing Teresa Halbach at a salvage yard in 2005. Dassey told investigators that he and his uncle Stephen Avery committed the crimes. In the documentary, filmmakers told the story about how Avery was wrongfully convicted and spent 18 years in prison....

Today, the Ninth Circuit decided two criminal appeals, one related to hearsay evidence and the other concerning a Fourth Amendment issue, and a petition for review of the SEC’s sanctions against two broker-dealers. In US v. Norwood, No. 08-30050, defendant was tried and convicted of drug and firearm possession, and his appeal raised various challenges to his trial and sentence. The Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding that 1) an affidavit showing that defendant did not have legitimate employment was not offered to prove an element of defendant’s offense, nor was it the sole evidence of any relevant fact, and thus did not violate the Confrontation Clause; 2) the prosecutor’s reference to the defendant’s opportunity to testify was a fair response to claims made by defendant’s counsel; and 3) defendant failed to provide any persuasive rationale for why his sentence should be considered cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment due to the distinction between the penalties imposed for cocaine powder and cocaine base....

Conrad Clinton Blair was sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), and appealed his sentence claiming that his prior sentences were not violent felonies for purposes of the ACCA, and were not “occasions different from one another.” The Third Circuit, however, was not persuaded. In 2011, Blair was arrested for participating in the sale of guns, and because of his prior criminal convictions he was prohibited from possessing firearms. He pleaded guilty to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm....

When spring blooms into full-blown summer, everyone seems to want to take things easy and slow down a bit. After all, when it’s hot out, enjoying the weather and staying cool quickly escalate on the priorities list. However, for lawyers always looking to make it rain – or for a job – summertime can be one of the best times to network. Networking with prospects and employers can often be a lot easier, as summer events are often much more social with activity-focused agendas....

Modern love is complicated. And we have the technology to prove it. When Phoenix-based attorney Ruby Torres was told chemotherapy to treat breast cancer would hurt her ability to become pregnant, she opted for in vitro fertilization and her then-boyfriend John Terrell donated his sperm. Torres and Terrell married, then divorced, without ever attempting implantation. So, who gets to decide what happens to the seven embryos the pair created? Just in Case Unsurprisingly, there are now contracts that cover exactly this situation....

In US v. Harmon, No. 09-5006, the Sixth Circuit faced a challenge to the district court’s decision ordering that defendant’s 46-month sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 922(g)(1) be served consecutively to an undischarged state sentence on an unrelated conviction for voluntary manslaughter. As the court wrote: “The court selected a 46-month sentence on the basis of Harmon’s criminal history and unlawful use of a firearm despite being convicted of voluntary manslaughter in state court, the need to provide adequate deterrence, the need to protect the public, and the likelihood that a term of imprisonment would provide Harmon with drug abuse and medical treatment....

Cravens v. Smith, No. 09-1924, involved an action raising a claim for indemnification from defendants for a judgment incurred by plaintiff in a separate lawsuit brought by a patient allegedly harmed by the negligence of plaintiff. The court of appeals affirmed judgment for defendant, on the grounds that 1) plaintiff failed to identify any contractual language specifying that defendants had a duty to defend plaintiff; 2) any decision not to admit evidence of whether defendants were bound by the underlying judgment was harmless, as the record contained other evidence of prejudice; and 3) the district court did not abuse its discretion in striking a venireperson....