Colorado
WADA drops lawsuit against USADA but still believes it would have won case
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency has dropped a lawsuit and an ethics case it filed against critics in the United States who disagreed with its handling of a doping case involving Chinese swimmers.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday that a defamation lawsuit filed in Swiss court against the American drug-fighting agency along with an ethics complaint against former U.S. drug czar Rahul Gupta had both been withdrawn.
USADA CEO Travis Tygart called the end of the legal actions “complete vindication for us both.”
The news was first reported by the website Honest Sport, which obtained a letter sent from WADA leadership to its executive committee.
“While we remain convinced that the lawsuit would be successful on its merits, we have determined that it is futile to argue with somebody who is unwilling to accept clear evidence, whose only goal is to damage WADA and the global anti-doping system,” the letter said in the latest of a long string of accusations flying between Tygart and WADA’s leaders.
The core of the latest disagreement between them came over WADA’s handling of the case involving Chinese swimmers who tested positive, but received no sanction after the country’s anti-doping agency determined the positives were the result of contamination.
WADA commissioned what it said was an independent investigation that found the agency acted “reasonably,” but critics say the investigation by a lawyer chosen by the agency was flawed.
WADA also dropped the ethics complaint it had filed last summer against Gupta, who was on the agency’s executive committee.
In an email to the New York Times, Gupta said the dropped claims “clearly demonstrate the meritless and politically motivated claims that WADA leaders attempted to pursue against the United States.”
All these disagreements led the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, led by Gupta during the Biden Administration, to refuse to pay its $3.6 million in annual dues to WADA.
Germany
Can sandals be art? Birkenstock says yes, but a court says no
BERLIN (AP) — Birkenstocks: They are ubiquitous in summer, comfy and very German. Sometimes they look chic and sometimes shabby. But can these sandals be considered art?
That’s the question Germany’s Federal Court of Justice wrestled with Thursday, and it ruled they’re just comfy footwear.
Birkenstock, which is headquartered in Linz am Rhein, Germany, and says its tradition of shoemaking goes back to 1774, filed a lawsuit against three competitors who sold sandals that were very similar to its own.
The shoe manufacturer claimed its sandals “are copyright-protected works of applied art” that may not be imitated. Under German law, works of art enjoy stronger and longer-lasting intellectual property protections than consumer products.
The company asked for an injunction to stop its competitors from making copycat sandals and order them to recall and destroy those already on the market. The defendant companies were not identified in the court statement.
Before Germany’s highest court for civil trials weighed in Thursday, the case had been heard at two lower courts, which disagreed on the issue.
A regional court in Cologne initially recognized the shoes as works of applied art and granted the orders, but Cologne’s higher regional court overturned the orders on appeal, German news agency dpa reported.
The appeals court said it was unable to establish any artistic achievement in the wide-strapped, big-buckled sandals.
The Federal Court of Justice sided with the appeals court and dismissed the case. In its ruling, it wrote that a product can’t be copyrighted if “technical requirements, rules or other constraints determine the design.”
“For the copyright protection of a work of applied art — as for all other types of work — the level of design must not be too low,” the court wrote. “For copyright protection, a level of design must be achieved that reveals individuality.”
Brazil
Country’s top court justice orders X to pay $1.4M fine for non-compliance
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered X to pay 8.1 million Brazilian reais ($1.4 million) in fines for failing to comply with judicial orders, according to a judicial ruling.
The ruling, signed on Wednesday and made public by the court on Thursday, said the social media platform refused to provide registration data for a profile attributed to Allan dos Santos, an ally of former President Jair Bolsonaro accused of spreading falsehoods.
In July 2024, De Moraes ordered both X and Meta to block and ban the account and provide the data. X said it had blocked the account but could not deliver the requested information, arguing that its operators didn’t collect it and that the user had “no technical connection point with Brazil.”
De Moraes rejected the argument and, in early August, imposed a daily fine of 100,000 Brazilian reais ($17,500) if the social media platform failed to provide the data. By October, the total fine for noncompliance had reached 8.1 million Brazilian reais.
X appealed but later notified the court that it would pay the fine. In Wednesday’s ruling, the justice ordered the company to pay the full amount immediately. It is unclear from the decision reviewed by The Associated Press whether X provided the requested registration data.
The company didn’t immediately reply to AP’s request for comment.
Last year, De Moraes ordered X’s nationwide shutdown after the company said it was removing all remaining Brazil staff in the country, saying de Moraes had threatened its legal representative in the country with arrest. The country’s law requires foreign companies to have a local legal representative to receive notifications of court decisions and swiftly take any requisite action — particularly, in X’s case, the takedown of accounts.
The social media was reinstated a month later, after complying with orders to block certain accounts from the platform, name an official legal representative and pay fines imposed for not complying with earlier court orders.
Florida
AG sues Target, claiming DEI initiatives ‘misled investors’
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s new attorney general filed a federal court lawsuit against Target on Thursday, claiming the discount store chain “misled investors” by promoting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that prompted a backlash and hurt sales, ultimately costing shareholders.
Before it scaled back its DEI efforts last month, Target was long considered a corporate advocate for the rights of Black and LGBTQ+ people. The retailer’s decision in 2023 to roll out LGBTQ+ merchandise in honor of Pride month outraged some shoppers and sparked confrontations in some stores.
In the lawsuit filed in Fort Myers, Florida, Attorney General James Uthmeier argued that Target violated the Securities Exchange Act by failing to disclose “the known risks” of its DEI and Pride month initiatives.
“Corporations that push radical leftist ideology at the expense of financial returns jeopardize the retirement security of Florida’s first responders and teachers,” Uthmeier said in a statement. “My office will stridently pursue corporate reform so that companies get back to the business of doing business — not offensive political theatre.”
Uthmeier, who was appointed as attorney general by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis this week, has pledged to use the state’s legal muster to “champion an America-first agenda” and challenge what he called “the left.”
Target announced in late January that it planned to discontinue a program aimed at better serving Black employees, Black shoppers and Black-owned businesses. The Minneapolis-based retailer ushered in a series of DEI initiatives following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.
Since then, diversity, equity and inclusion policies have come under attack from conservative activists and the White House. Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands also have scrapped or reduced their DEI commitments.
Elon Musk, the social media owner, and De Moraes, a foe of former president Jair Bolsonaro, sparred for months over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Musk called the judge an enemy of free speech and a criminal. But de Moraes’ decisions have been repeatedly upheld by his peers — including his nationwide block of X.
Texas
AG asks court to require NCAA to begin gender testing as part of transgender policy
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — The Republican attorney general in Texas wants the NCAA to take its transgender policy a step further and require gender testing for athletes who compete in women’s sports.
AG Ken Paxon filed a lawsuit in December in state district court and on Thursday added a filing that seeks a court order requiring gender screening for athletes and an injunction intended to prevent the NCAA from “falsely and deceptively claiming that only biological women may participate in female-specific competitions.”
Earlier this month, the NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes who were assigned female at birth. The move came a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports.
Paxton doesn’t think the NCAA move goes far enough, saying the NCAA has no mechanism for screening the sex of athletes.
“In practice, the NCAA’s lack of sex-screening has allowed (and will continue to allow) biological men to surreptitiously participate in ‘women’s’ sports categories,” the lawsuit claims.
Over the past year, transgender athletes have become a target of critics who say their participation in women’s sports is unfair and a potential safety risk. The topic became a major talking point in Trump’s re-election campaign even though there is believed to be a very small number of transgender athletes; NCAA President Charlie Baker in December said he knew of only 10 transgender athletes out of more than 500,000 across the NCAA.
The NCAA’s revised policy permits athletes assigned male at birth to practice with women’s teams and receive benefits such as medical care. An athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy can practice with a women’s team but cannot compete on a women’s team without risking the team’s eligibility for championships.
Paxton also said the NCAA has left “ample opportunity for biological men to alter their birth records and participate in women’s sports,” a claim the organization said is not true.
“The policy is clear that there are no waivers available, and student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team with amended birth certificates or other forms of ID,” the NCAA said in an emailed response to The Associated Press.
Member schools — there are 1,100 in the NCAA — are responsible for certifying athlete eligibility for practice and competition. Local, state and federal legislation can supersede NCAA rules.
Paxton’s filing refers to last week’s announcement by World Athletics that part of its new recommended guidelines would bring back gender testing, a practice that hasn’t been part of track and field since the 1990s. Most of the screenings can be done by swabbing the inside of an athlete’s cheek.
WADA drops lawsuit against USADA but still believes it would have won case
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency has dropped a lawsuit and an ethics case it filed against critics in the United States who disagreed with its handling of a doping case involving Chinese swimmers.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday that a defamation lawsuit filed in Swiss court against the American drug-fighting agency along with an ethics complaint against former U.S. drug czar Rahul Gupta had both been withdrawn.
USADA CEO Travis Tygart called the end of the legal actions “complete vindication for us both.”
The news was first reported by the website Honest Sport, which obtained a letter sent from WADA leadership to its executive committee.
“While we remain convinced that the lawsuit would be successful on its merits, we have determined that it is futile to argue with somebody who is unwilling to accept clear evidence, whose only goal is to damage WADA and the global anti-doping system,” the letter said in the latest of a long string of accusations flying between Tygart and WADA’s leaders.
The core of the latest disagreement between them came over WADA’s handling of the case involving Chinese swimmers who tested positive, but received no sanction after the country’s anti-doping agency determined the positives were the result of contamination.
WADA commissioned what it said was an independent investigation that found the agency acted “reasonably,” but critics say the investigation by a lawyer chosen by the agency was flawed.
WADA also dropped the ethics complaint it had filed last summer against Gupta, who was on the agency’s executive committee.
In an email to the New York Times, Gupta said the dropped claims “clearly demonstrate the meritless and politically motivated claims that WADA leaders attempted to pursue against the United States.”
All these disagreements led the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, led by Gupta during the Biden Administration, to refuse to pay its $3.6 million in annual dues to WADA.
Germany
Can sandals be art? Birkenstock says yes, but a court says no
BERLIN (AP) — Birkenstocks: They are ubiquitous in summer, comfy and very German. Sometimes they look chic and sometimes shabby. But can these sandals be considered art?
That’s the question Germany’s Federal Court of Justice wrestled with Thursday, and it ruled they’re just comfy footwear.
Birkenstock, which is headquartered in Linz am Rhein, Germany, and says its tradition of shoemaking goes back to 1774, filed a lawsuit against three competitors who sold sandals that were very similar to its own.
The shoe manufacturer claimed its sandals “are copyright-protected works of applied art” that may not be imitated. Under German law, works of art enjoy stronger and longer-lasting intellectual property protections than consumer products.
The company asked for an injunction to stop its competitors from making copycat sandals and order them to recall and destroy those already on the market. The defendant companies were not identified in the court statement.
Before Germany’s highest court for civil trials weighed in Thursday, the case had been heard at two lower courts, which disagreed on the issue.
A regional court in Cologne initially recognized the shoes as works of applied art and granted the orders, but Cologne’s higher regional court overturned the orders on appeal, German news agency dpa reported.
The appeals court said it was unable to establish any artistic achievement in the wide-strapped, big-buckled sandals.
The Federal Court of Justice sided with the appeals court and dismissed the case. In its ruling, it wrote that a product can’t be copyrighted if “technical requirements, rules or other constraints determine the design.”
“For the copyright protection of a work of applied art — as for all other types of work — the level of design must not be too low,” the court wrote. “For copyright protection, a level of design must be achieved that reveals individuality.”
Brazil
Country’s top court justice orders X to pay $1.4M fine for non-compliance
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered X to pay 8.1 million Brazilian reais ($1.4 million) in fines for failing to comply with judicial orders, according to a judicial ruling.
The ruling, signed on Wednesday and made public by the court on Thursday, said the social media platform refused to provide registration data for a profile attributed to Allan dos Santos, an ally of former President Jair Bolsonaro accused of spreading falsehoods.
In July 2024, De Moraes ordered both X and Meta to block and ban the account and provide the data. X said it had blocked the account but could not deliver the requested information, arguing that its operators didn’t collect it and that the user had “no technical connection point with Brazil.”
De Moraes rejected the argument and, in early August, imposed a daily fine of 100,000 Brazilian reais ($17,500) if the social media platform failed to provide the data. By October, the total fine for noncompliance had reached 8.1 million Brazilian reais.
X appealed but later notified the court that it would pay the fine. In Wednesday’s ruling, the justice ordered the company to pay the full amount immediately. It is unclear from the decision reviewed by The Associated Press whether X provided the requested registration data.
The company didn’t immediately reply to AP’s request for comment.
Last year, De Moraes ordered X’s nationwide shutdown after the company said it was removing all remaining Brazil staff in the country, saying de Moraes had threatened its legal representative in the country with arrest. The country’s law requires foreign companies to have a local legal representative to receive notifications of court decisions and swiftly take any requisite action — particularly, in X’s case, the takedown of accounts.
The social media was reinstated a month later, after complying with orders to block certain accounts from the platform, name an official legal representative and pay fines imposed for not complying with earlier court orders.
Florida
AG sues Target, claiming DEI initiatives ‘misled investors’
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s new attorney general filed a federal court lawsuit against Target on Thursday, claiming the discount store chain “misled investors” by promoting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that prompted a backlash and hurt sales, ultimately costing shareholders.
Before it scaled back its DEI efforts last month, Target was long considered a corporate advocate for the rights of Black and LGBTQ+ people. The retailer’s decision in 2023 to roll out LGBTQ+ merchandise in honor of Pride month outraged some shoppers and sparked confrontations in some stores.
In the lawsuit filed in Fort Myers, Florida, Attorney General James Uthmeier argued that Target violated the Securities Exchange Act by failing to disclose “the known risks” of its DEI and Pride month initiatives.
“Corporations that push radical leftist ideology at the expense of financial returns jeopardize the retirement security of Florida’s first responders and teachers,” Uthmeier said in a statement. “My office will stridently pursue corporate reform so that companies get back to the business of doing business — not offensive political theatre.”
Uthmeier, who was appointed as attorney general by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis this week, has pledged to use the state’s legal muster to “champion an America-first agenda” and challenge what he called “the left.”
Target announced in late January that it planned to discontinue a program aimed at better serving Black employees, Black shoppers and Black-owned businesses. The Minneapolis-based retailer ushered in a series of DEI initiatives following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.
Since then, diversity, equity and inclusion policies have come under attack from conservative activists and the White House. Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands also have scrapped or reduced their DEI commitments.
Elon Musk, the social media owner, and De Moraes, a foe of former president Jair Bolsonaro, sparred for months over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Musk called the judge an enemy of free speech and a criminal. But de Moraes’ decisions have been repeatedly upheld by his peers — including his nationwide block of X.
Texas
AG asks court to require NCAA to begin gender testing as part of transgender policy
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — The Republican attorney general in Texas wants the NCAA to take its transgender policy a step further and require gender testing for athletes who compete in women’s sports.
AG Ken Paxon filed a lawsuit in December in state district court and on Thursday added a filing that seeks a court order requiring gender screening for athletes and an injunction intended to prevent the NCAA from “falsely and deceptively claiming that only biological women may participate in female-specific competitions.”
Earlier this month, the NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes who were assigned female at birth. The move came a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports.
Paxton doesn’t think the NCAA move goes far enough, saying the NCAA has no mechanism for screening the sex of athletes.
“In practice, the NCAA’s lack of sex-screening has allowed (and will continue to allow) biological men to surreptitiously participate in ‘women’s’ sports categories,” the lawsuit claims.
Over the past year, transgender athletes have become a target of critics who say their participation in women’s sports is unfair and a potential safety risk. The topic became a major talking point in Trump’s re-election campaign even though there is believed to be a very small number of transgender athletes; NCAA President Charlie Baker in December said he knew of only 10 transgender athletes out of more than 500,000 across the NCAA.
The NCAA’s revised policy permits athletes assigned male at birth to practice with women’s teams and receive benefits such as medical care. An athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy can practice with a women’s team but cannot compete on a women’s team without risking the team’s eligibility for championships.
Paxton also said the NCAA has left “ample opportunity for biological men to alter their birth records and participate in women’s sports,” a claim the organization said is not true.
“The policy is clear that there are no waivers available, and student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team with amended birth certificates or other forms of ID,” the NCAA said in an emailed response to The Associated Press.
Member schools — there are 1,100 in the NCAA — are responsible for certifying athlete eligibility for practice and competition. Local, state and federal legislation can supersede NCAA rules.
Paxton’s filing refers to last week’s announcement by World Athletics that part of its new recommended guidelines would bring back gender testing, a practice that hasn’t been part of track and field since the 1990s. Most of the screenings can be done by swabbing the inside of an athlete’s cheek.
