A federal court in Washington recently granted in part and denied in part a former distributor’s partial motion to dismiss claims for breach of a post-termination noncompete agreement, breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, and civil conspiracy. HydroFLOW USA, LLC v. ECO Integrated Tech., Inc., 2024 WL 1049998 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 11, 2024).

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a preliminary injunction granted as to franchisor Urban Air’s patent and trade dress infringement claims against Kangaroo, LLC. UATP IP, LLC v. Kangaroo, LLC, 2024 WL 658205 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 16, 2024).

An appellate court in California has affirmed a trial court’s rejection of more than $4 million in lost business profits, which appellant Glen Suh alleged in a breach of contract action against franchisor Boba Time, Inc. Suh v. Pak, 2024 WL 768839 (Cal. App. Feb. 26, 2024).

A federal court in Illinois recently granted partial summary judgment to LMLC Franchising, LLC (LMLC-F), LMLC Management, LLC (LMLC-M), and Todd Barnhardt on claims brought by John Doe and Aylin & Ramtin, LLC (A&R) for breach of fiduciary duty and violating the Illinois Franchise Disclosure Act (IFDA), among others. Aylin & Ramtin, LLC v. Barnhardt, 2024 WL 325384 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 29, 2024).

A federal court in California denied a franchisor’s motion to dismiss a consumer’s claims for a violation of the unfair-practices prong of California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and unjust enrichment. Torres v. Botanic Tonics, LLC, 2023 WL 8852754 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 21, 2023).