Indiana employers received favorable guidance from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on two common workplace benefits issues: voluntary “vacation buy” programs and the treatment of unused rollover paid time off. In a June 2026 decision of first impression under Indiana law, Clayton Creason v. Elanco US Inc., the court held that an employee’s election to accept reduced compensation in exchange for additional PTO is not an assignment of wages subject to state statutory requirements. The court also confirmed that employers may enforce clearly drafted policies providing that certain rollover vacation hours expire rather than being…
Continue Reading Indiana Wage Law Update: Seventh Circuit Finds Vacation-Buy Program Is Not
an Unlawful Wage Assignment

Registering your trademark isn’t the finish line. Here’s what you have to do afterward, correct use, policing for conflicts, and USPTO maintenance deadlines, to keep it enforceable.
The post Protecting Your Trademark from Post-Registration Legal Horrors appeared first on King Patent Law, PLLC.
Continue Reading Protecting Your Trademark from Post-Registration Legal Horrors

The Public Access Counselor of the Illinois Attorney General’s office (PAC) issued its 11th binding opinion for 2026 finding a public body in violation of FOIA when it denied a request for jail incident reports where those records could have been redacted and released. PAC Op. 26-011.A reporter submitted a FOIA request to a sheriff’s office seeking incident reports at a county jail relating to the use of restraint chairs. The sheriff’s office denied the request in its entirety, citing to the personal privacy and private information exemptions of FOIA. The reporter filed an appeal with the PAC arguing…
Continue Reading PAC Says Incident Reports Should Have Been Released

Part 2 of 2: The price-discrimination settlement.

A wholesaler’s price book can show the same offer to every customer while rebates, credits, and qualification rules deliver a very different deal. Southern Glazer’s FTC complaint and the newly issued proposed settlement give wholesalers a reason to examine that gap—not to abandon legitimate discounts, but to understand who can obtain them and what supports the resulting price differences. 

Part 1 of our two-part series on these SG issues followed marketing money into personal benefits concealed behind false invoices. The FTC’s separate December 2024 lawsuit instead challenged allegedly discriminatory pricing that disadvantaged…
Continue Reading Same Bottle, Different Deal: What Southern Glazer’s FTC Settlement Means for Wholesalers

June was a busy month for retail patent litigation. Frequent filers targeting retailers included Nearby Systems LLC, Near Field Electronics LLC, and Boomcloud 360.As usual, I prepared the report in partnership with and using Docket Navigator and its powerful database. Docket Navigator is a valuable resource, and the place to go if you want to keep track of new patent litigation filings or want to know what is happening in particular cases, how your judge has historically handled a particular type of motion, or a particular plaintiff’s litigation history. Finally, please let me know if you have thoughts about the…
Continue Reading JUNE 2026 RETAIL PATENT LITIGATION REPORT

In July 2026, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced new rulemakings to address the increasing role of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the American economy. It also proposed initial standards for their use and performance. The agency said the measures are part of an ongoing effort to expand the use of AV technology while also developing an oversight structure that supports national standards alongside state oversight. The initial comment period concluded in August 2026.

The proposed rulemakings include:

  • A temporary exemption allowing Zoox, Inc. (an AV company and subsidiary of Amazon) to commercially deploy up to 2,500 vehicles annually

…
Continue Reading New Rulemakings Could Reshape Autonomous Vehicle Regulation Nationwide

Crash News | Evanston, Il

A 56-year-old Evanston man was killed in a rollover crash near the Northwestern University campus Friday evening, according to Evanston police. The crash happened near Simpson Street and Sherman Avenue shortly before 6:30 p.m., where police and Evanston Fire Department crews found an SUV lying on its side. The driver was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities had not released his identity, and the cause of the crash remained under investigation.

Police said the incident did not appear to be connected to Northwestern’s football game or related event traffic. Sherman…
Continue Reading Driver Killed in Evanston Rollover Crash Near Northwestern Campus

Baseball playoffs are here as is the start of the NFL season. Good luck to all of your teams. Two of my three baseball teams (Braves and White Sox), made it to the second round. We will see where it goes from here.This week’s blog entry deals with the question of whether the ability of a blind person to serve on a grand jury is a real right. We already know that the ability of a blind person to serve on a traditional jury may be nothing more than a theoretical right. See this blog entry. The question is…
Continue Reading It May Be Just a Theoretical Right to Serve on a Jury, But a Person with a Disability Has a Real Right to Serve on a Grand Jury

If you are selling your property without a real estate agent, my Free Chicagoland FSBO Starter Kit includes practical information designed to help sellers understand the steps involved in a private home sale.
When you sell your home without a real estate agent, the buyer’s earnest money should usually be placed with an agreed escrow holder rather than simply given to the seller. In a Chicago-area FSBO transaction, the escrow holder might be a title company, an attorney, the buyer’s brokerage, or another party identified in the purchase contract.
This is one of those details that many FSBO sellers do…
Continue Reading Who Holds Earnest Money in a Chicago-Area FSBO Home Sale?

Part 1 of 2: The non-prosecution agreement.

A supplier’s approval of a marketing billback does not tell a wholesaler whether the event happened, who actually benefited, or where unused money went. Southern Glazer’s non-prosecution agreement shows how certain employees, supplier representatives and vendors exploited those gaps to turn promotional spending into personal benefits. For other wholesalers, the agreement offers something more useful than a collection of embarrassing anecdotes: specific practices to recognize and weaknesses to test in their own operations. 

On September 10, 2026, Southern agreed to pay $12.5 million and undertake compliance and cooperation obligations to resolve a…
Continue Reading Marketing Billbacks and Dirty Tricks: What Wholesalers Should Learn from Southern Glazer’s NPA

Ancel Glink released Quorum Forum Podcast Episode 110: Statement of Economic Interests.Back by listener request, the podcast is taking a brief recess to revisit one of its classic episodes on Statements of
Economic Interests (SOEI) for local government officials and candidates. Ancel Glink’s
Daniel J. Bolin and Keri-Lyn J.
Krafthefer break down the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act reporting
questions, clear up common misconceptions about disclosable assets and debts,
and offer practical guidance for local officials and employees.
Candidates running in the 2027
consolidated elections must file an SOEI and submit their receipt alongside
nomination papers during the candidate petition…
Continue Reading Quorum Forum Podcast Ep. 110: Statement of Economic Interests

Mobile Motherboard Inc. v. AIOEXPC, ALADAWN, and AKLWY, No. 24 CV 8703, (N.D. Ill. May 29, 2026) (Shah, J.).Judge Shah denied plaintiff’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e) & 60(b) motion to alter or amend the judgment and for leave to amend in this patent infringement case related to a two-part computer system comprising a “computer box” and a separate, external, handheld “motherboard” that connects to it. The Court had previously granted judgment on the pleadings for defendants, Chinese companies selling handheld “computer sticks.” The Court found no manifest error warranting the extraordinary relief available under Rule 59(e). Plaintiff’s own…
Continue Reading Plaintiff’s Own Claim Charts Showed Accused Products Could Not Satisfy Claim Limitations

If you were injured because of violence on Chicago Public Transport, the attacker, the public transit authority, or a private security company may be liable for damages. In some cases, multiple parties may share responsibility. 

Many people in the windy city rely on Chicago’s extensive public transit system to get around. The network of buses and trains are a quick and easy way to travel without having to worry about finding a place to park, making traveling through Chicago less stressful. But violent attacks, sexual assaults, and shootings on the CTA bus lines prompt questions about whether adequate security measures…
Continue Reading Who Is Liable for Violence on Chicago Public Transport?

Crash News | Chicago, Il

A 33-year-old bicyclist was killed after being struck by a sedan in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood on Sunday morning, according to Chicago police.

The crash happened shortly after 6 a.m. near West Lake Street and North Homan Avenue. Police said the bicyclist was traveling westbound on Lake Street when a black two-door sedan heading south on Homan Avenue collided with him in the intersection.

The bicyclist suffered severe trauma and was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His identity has not yet been released.

The driver of the sedan suffered…
Continue Reading Bicyclist Killed in Crash With Sedan in East Garfield Park, Chicago Police Say

Preview: The Alien Always Loses The mirror image In 2006 a lawful permanent resident of Illinois stood convicted of possessing a small amount of cocaine. Illinois called the crime a felony. Federal law called the same conduct a misdemeanor. The … Continue reading →
Continue Reading “The Alien Always Loses”: Posner’s Warning and the Board of Immigration Appeals Today