Big Corporate Lawsuits

BIG CORPORATE LAWSUITS Corporate litigation is often risky and financially draining but also potentially very profitable. 40% 40% 70% of corporate counsel can't quantify what it will cost to of companies in litiga- Litigation costs represent tion had lawsuits against more than 70% of overall defend a pending lawsuit. them in which more than legal spending by the $20 million is at stake. average U.S. business. Corporate lawsuits are widely prevalent Patent Trolls The average company in the U.S. juggles PATENTED -C) 37 ----- LAWSUITS SIMULTANEOUSLY Known as "patent trolls," non-practicing entities or patent-assertion entities are companies that own patent rights for products they do not manufacture 74% or use and primarily profit of large companies initiated a lawsuit in the past year. through patent lawsuits. Frivolous and Surprising Lawsuits Liebeck vs McDonald's 79 year old Stelle Liebeck sued McDonald's when she spilled Liebeck initially sought to settle her their hot coffee on herself. claim for $20,000 but they refused. ZO0 She ultimately won her suit by GLATMS providing evidence of more than 700 claims by people burned by its coffee and McDonald's ow n quality she suffered third degree burns resulting in an 8 day hos pital stay and skin grafts. assurance manager testimonų admitted that there was a serious burn hazard. PAVOUT: A jury found McDonald's 80% responsible, awarding Liebeck $160,000 in compensatory damages and $480,000 in punitive damages. Skechers vs Federal Tra de Commission The Federal Trade Commission SKECHERS brought the company to court for: MARKETING EXECUTIVES • False health improvement claims (improve heart rate, increase calorie burn, etc.) EMPLOYEE EXECUTIVE Skechers' pricey ShapeUp shoes promised ex tra Sketchers failed to disclose that calories burned a chiropractor featured in one and muscle tone of their ads was not only an • Tagline "Get in Shape With- out Setting Foot in a Gym." just by walking in employee, but was married to the shoes. one of the company's marketing executives. PAYOUT: Sketchers settled out of court for $40 million and consumers could apply for a full refund at the FTC website Leonard vs Pepsi Co. According to contest rules, PEPSI Pepsi points could be pur- BREACH OF CONTRACT chased for 10 cents each. A viewer collected 15 points through purchases and then mailed in a check for In 1999, Pepsi aired a commercial in which $700,008.50 to Pepsi for a Harrier fighter jet When Pepsi refused to deliver a Harrier fighter jet (which cost well over $20-30 million the remaining points. was show n to be redeemable for 7 million pepsi points. each), the viewer sued for breach of contract and fraud. o00-ateremnmnn DAYOUT: The court ruled in Pepsi's favor, ruling that no reasonable person could think the commercial actually offered a jet for $700,000. Aya la vs Wendy's Anna Ayala 1.5 in claimed she The story was found a 1.5 inch taken to the press human fingertip - in her and widely circu- lated before a Wendy's chili. lawsuit was filed. Ayala dropped the lawsuit when investigations began looking for the PAYOUT: source of the missing finger and eventually determined she had planted it. Wendy's filed a criminal complaint and Ayala and her husband were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Patent & Trademark Lawsuits SAMSUNG Apple Inc vs Samsung In 2013, Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung regarding a pinch-to-zoom patent for touch screens. The US Patent and Trademark Office rejected the claim for its "pinch-to-zoom" technology. 2013 2012 - Apple won a suit of $1.05 billion (minus $450 million later cut by the judge for miscalculations) in damages against Samsung. The verdict covered 14 products determined to have Apple-patented fea- tures such as the "bounce-back" when you scroll to the end of a list, dou- ble-tap zoom and design iconography on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches. The patent infringement case was being tried in other countries as well; in South Korea, the courts ruled that both had infringed on each other's patents, giving a split decision and effectively banning some older products from both companies from the Korean market. 00 Apple Inc vs Apple Corps THE BEkfuEs 888 In 1978, Apple Corps, The Beatles' holding company, filed a lawsuit against Apple Computer for trademark infringement. In 1981, an $80,000 settlement determined that Apple Inc would not enter the music bus iness and Apple Corps would not get involved in the computer business. The lawsuit filings were renewed in 1986 over violating the agreement when Apple computers added recording capabilities - reaching a new $26.5 million REC settlement in 1991. When iTunes launched in 2003, Apple Corps sued yet again for breach of contract. $$$ • Apple Inc paid Apple Corps $500 million to gain ow nership of all "Apple" trademarks. • It took another few more years before they finally reached an agreement allowing The Beatles' music to be made available for purchase on iTunes. iTunes ORACLE Google Oracle vs Google IT Oracle sought $6 billion in damages in a copyright battle with Google over the use of Java programming language and software tools. Java Ultimately, a jury decided that Google did not infringe on Oracle's Java patents. $1.13 MIL Oracle was also ordered to reimburse Google for $1.13 million in legal costs. Nestlē Cadbury Nestlé vs Cadbury 2006 In 2006, Nestlé trademarked the shape of the KitKat. Cadbury applied to invalidate the trademark under the claim that a product shape cannot be trademarked. Nestlé ultimately won the trademark law suit in the UK, confirming that others cannot sell a KitKat shaped product in the European Union. Coca-Cola Cocaine Coca-Cola vs Cocaine TM A trademark application was filed in Chile by Redux Beverages for "Cocaine" after an energy drink they sell called Cocaine Energy loaded with 280mg of caffeine per can, 3.5 times stronger than other energy drinks. In 2011, Coca-Cola filed an opposition to the trademark application for "Co- caine" claiming that the trademark would lead to confusion with its own Coke brand. Additionally, one of the flavors, Spicy Hot Cocaine, is marketed in a red can with a white logo, similar to Coca-Cola's can. 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