One of the Federal Trade Commission's own commissioners says he "went ballistic" when the FTC allowed both Google and Facebook to settle claims that they violated consumer privacy laws while flat-out denying the agency's allegations.

For years, culminating with his Ninth Circuit win against UMG Recordings this week, Elkin has relied on a safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to fend off copyright infringement claims against his client Veoh Networks. Elkin's pioneering work has paid off for Veoh, and so far it's paying off for Google and YouTube as they defend against Viacom's $1 billion copyright suit.

So why did the music industry suddenly settle with Lime Wire in the midst of a jury trial last Thursday? It's worth noting that the $105 million deal came fresh on the heels of the cross examination of Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. by Willkie Farr & Gallagher's Joseph Baio. Bronfman claimed Lime Wire had devastated the music business, but was forced to admit that he would make billions from Warner. More ominously for Bronfman, he faced the possibility of having to tell the jury about his recent insider trading conviction in France.

In a dispute that provides a case study in patent litigation after the enactment of the America Invents Act, lawyers for a patent holder suing major tech firms are fighting to get cases that were sent to the defendants' home jurisdictions transferred back to the Eastern District of Texas—but this time designated as multidistrict litigation.

The Justice Department has suffered consecutive setbacks in an economic espionage case against four Chinese companies because they have no U.S. employees to serve with a summons, and no U.S. office where one can be mailed. That's why the department is hoping to eliminate certain requirements for service on foreign businesses.

Winston & Strawn IP practice chair James Hurst discusses the latest trends in litigation against the pharmaceutical industry.