Schutt Sports Found Off-Sides in Argument Against Moving Suit to Illinois

On August 28, 2017, Eastern District of Texas Judge Gilstrap ruled on Riddell Inc.’s motion against Schutt Sports to either dismiss the patent infringement suit brought against it or to move the case from Texas to Illinois. Despite Texas being a proper venue for the suit, Judge Gilstrap ultimately ruled to move the case to Illinois because it serves as a more convenient forum.

In May 2017, Schutt filed suit against Riddell claiming infringement on three of its patents for helmet designs — U.S. Patent …

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NHL Seeks To Have Wrongful Death Claims Checked

On November 4, 2016, the NHL sought to have Judge Gary Feinerman of the Northern District of Illinois reconsider the court’s previous decision to allow relatives of deceased hockey player Derek Boogaard to file wrongful death claims against the National Hockey League (NHL). The NHL argued the claims fell under the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and should be preempted.

Judge Feinerman had previously agreed with the player’s family, which alleged the NHL promoted violence and implied head trauma was not dangerous and did not …

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DraftKings Reaches Settlement Over TCPA Issue

DraftKings recently announced that they have reached a settlement agreement concerning a Telephone Consumer Practice Act (TCPA) class action. David Izsak filed the complaint in October 2014 in the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Izsak received a text message stating, “Come play DraftKings with me. Use my link and we’ll both get a bonus.” After calling the sender, he discovered the number from the text message is owned and operated by DraftKings.

On June 13, 2016, the Northern District of Illinois ruled on the defendant’s …

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