The Eleventh Circuit last week decided a tax case exploring the appropriate scope of factual review for the economic substance and business purpose doctrines. Curtis Investment Co. v. Commissioner, 2018 WL 6380325 (11th Cir. Dec. 6, 2018). These two doctrines allow courts and the IRS to make a substance-over-form review of suspected tax avoidance activities….
Author: Wendy Spiro
Some Claims are Stronger than Others—Eleventh Circuit Revives Protein Supplement Maker’s Lanham Act Claim But Holds that Georgia Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act Claim is Preempted by Federal Law
The Eleventh Circuit recently reversed in part and affirmed in part the dismissal of a complaint alleging violations of the Georgia Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, O.C.G.A. § 10-1-372, and the federal Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). Hi-Tech Pharm., Inc. v. HBS Int’l, 2018 WL 6314282 (11th Cir. Dec. 4, 2018). The case presented…
Eleventh Circuit Restores $20m Punitive-Damages Verdict Against Philip Morris
The Eleventh Circuit last week reinstated a $20.76m punitive-damages verdict against tobacco giant Philip Morris, ruling that the district court had abused its discretion in ordering a new trial on the plaintiff’s intentional tort claims. Cote v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 2018 WL 6167395 (11th Cir. Nov. 26, 2018). The court also affirmed the denial…
Supreme Court to Consider TCPA Circuit Split on Interpretation of “Advertisement”
The Supreme Court will address a circuit split over the interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s provision imposing liability for sending unsolicited advertisements. PDR Network, LLC v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic, Inc., No. 17-1705, 2018 WL 3127423 (U.S. Nov. 13, 2018). The majority view—held by the Eleventh Circuit—is that an unsolicited fax is only…
Arbitration on a Hot Shingled Roof: Homeowners Bound by Arbitration Agreement Printed on Shingle Wrapping
Homeowners are bound by a mandatory-arbitration provision printed conspicuously on the wrapping around packages of shingles when the packages are opened and installed by the homeowners’ roofers, as a matter of Florida contract law. Dye v. Tamko Building Products, Inc., 2018 WL 5729085 (11th Cir. Nov. 2, 2018). Two Florida homeowners whose roofers had purchased,…
Unregistered Copyright Does Not Preclude Federal Jurisdiction
Capping off an October trio of copyright decisions, the Eleventh Circuit in Fastcase, Inc. v. Lawriter, LLC, 2018 WL 5318148 (11th Cir. Oct. 29, 2018), confirmed that the failure to register a copyright does not defeat federal subject-matter jurisdiction (though it may doom an infringement claim under Rule 12(b)(6)). The court also held that a…
Eleventh Circuit Takes District Court to School Over Educational Fair-Use Copyright Dispute
In Cambridge University Press v. Albert, 2018 WL 5095004 (11th Cir. Oct. 19, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit issued its second decision in a decade-long dispute over Georgia State University’s practice of distributing digital excerpts of copyrighted works to students without paying a royalty. The district court now faces its third trial to assess the fair-use…
Laws for the People, By the People, Are Not Copyrightable
A March 23, 2017 order from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia immediately prompted headlines such as “If you publish Georgia’s state laws, you’ll get sued for copyright and lose.” The case, Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 244 F. Supp. 3d 1350 (N.D. Ga. 2017), examined whether the Official…
Court Revives Challenge to Stranger-Originated Life Insurance Policies (STOLIs)
In Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada v. Imperial Premium Finance, LLC, 2018 WL 4443054 (11th Cir. Sept. 18, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit reversed the dismissal of fraud and breach of contract claims related to the sale of life insurance policies to strangers to the insureds. Sun Life Assurance Company sold life insurance to senior…
Disclosure of Additional Digits on a Credit Card Receipt Sufficient to Confer Article III Standing to Bring a FACTA Claim (Opinion Vacated, and Petition for Rehearing En Banc Granted, October 4, 2019)
On October 5, 2018, a panel of the Eleventh Circuit held that a plaintiff has standing to pursue a claim under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”) if a merchant discloses too many digits of a credit card number on a receipt, even without subsequent misuse of the plaintiff’s identity or credit card. …