BHB was lead trial counsel for plaintiff Stone Brewing in the fourth-largest IP trademark infringement jury verdict in history. Stone is one of the country’s oldest craft breweries whose STONE® trademark was adopted by MillerCoors’ discount KEYSTONE beer brand. The case raised legal questions regarding the “reverse confusion” infringement doctrine on which Stone’s damages were based, in part.

Stone Brewing Co. v. MillerCoors LLC (S.D. Cal).
Opposing counsel: Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP; Wilmer Hale LLP; Crowell & Moring LLP.

BHB was trial counsel for firm client Orion Telescopes & Binoculars, the last independent telescope brand and distributor in the United States. During a five-week trial, a unanimous federal jury found that a consortium of Chinese telescope manufacturers conspired to set prices and monopolize the market for consumer telescopes and awarded $55 million, together with substantial injunctive relief, including dispossession of defendants’ unlawfully acquired factory. After the defendants appealed to the Ninth Circuit, BHB successfully defended the jury’s verdict, and the Ninth Circuit upheld the judgement and related injunction.

Optronic Technologies, Inc., v. Ningbo Sunny Electronic Co., Ltd. et al. (9th Cir. 2021.).
Opposing counsel: Shepphard Mullin LLP; Greenberg Traurig LLP.

BHB was trial counsel for investment fund Paron Capital in securing a $36 million Delaware Chancery Court award and judgment against a competing investment manager for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. The Court found defendant had defrauded Paron and its other investors as part of a scheme to falsify records and options trading software returns. The victory was upheld by the state’s Supreme Court.

Paron Capital Management LLC v. Crombie (Del. Chancery).

BHB defeated a multitude of false advertising and consumer unfair competition class actions pending across five states against beloved consumer brand, Pirate’s Booty. The case was a bellwether defeat for almost a dozen plaintiff law firms seeking to shake down the brand for more than $50 million in lawsuits filed in state and federal courts in New Jersey, Florida, California, Pennsylvania, and New York. After successfully defeating class certification in California, the firm secured dismissals across the board without paying plaintiffs a dime.

BHB secured a $16 million arbitration victory and ensuing state court judgment on behalf of investors in Oklahoma-based Carbon Investment Partners. The highly publicized fraud case involved claims against a New York portfolio manager who violated trading restrictions and squandered millions of investor capital in two days of trading. The team successfully compelled arbitration in Oklahoma, dismissed competing claims in Delaware Chancery Court, and, ultimately, prevailed at trial to obtain a $16 million award, later affirmed as an Oklahoma State Court judgment.

Carbon Investment Partners LLC, and Carbon Master Fund, L.P., v. Lee A. Bressler (S.D. NY).
Opposing counsel: Levine Lee LLP; Haynes and Boone LLP

BHB represented seed investors in one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platforms. In exchange for their early funding, investors were promised future equity in the company, which was triggered upon the raising of additional capital. The cryptocurrency platform refused to honor investors’ equity. The BHB team filed suit to protect investors’ interests, seeking to recover more than $90 million. The dispute was confidentially resolved.

Opposing counsel: Jones Day LLP, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

In trade secret litigation in New York and California, BHB secured dismissal of claims against a leading Bay Area wealth management firm. BHB's clients left a major bank to form an independent investment advisory firm. When the bank brought trade secrets and other claims against the new firm's founders, BHB countersued, raising claims for unfair competition and other significant misconduct. BHB secured no-payment dismissal of the lawsuits.

Lyell Wealth Management LLC et. al v. The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation et. al. (N.D. Cal).
Opposing Counsel: Reed Smith LLP

BHB served as lead defense counsel in securing dismissal of plaintiff’s $300 million fraud and trade secret action against investment funds managed by private equity client VMG Partners. Plaintiffs dropped the action following BHB’s notice of Rule 11 violations and threat to initiate sanctions proceedings.

Better Nutritionals v. Goli, et al. (C.D. Cal).

BHB served as defense counsel in securing a complete dismissal. A unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed BHB’s defense of PERFECT BAR® against baseless “class” allegations regarding the supposed mislabeling of defendant’s snack bars. Finding that the appellants’ state law claims were preempted by federal laws and regulations, the Court upheld the District Court’s dismissal of the case.

Howard Clark v. Perfect Bar LLC (9th Cir. 2020).

After five years of hotly contested litigation, BHB secured a settlement requiring that these nursing facilities comply with state and federal laws that prevent them from dumping their poorest and neediest residents in favor of more lucrative patients. The case is the first resolved California litigation requiring that, prior to any transfer or discharge of a resident, a nursing facility must provide advance written notice of the resident’s rights, including the right to contest being forced out of the facility.

Gloria Single v. Congregational Church Retirement Community (Sac. Cty. Sup. Ct.).

BHB defeated a $100 million+ putative class action lawsuit against leading sports beverage brand BODYARMOR. Plaintiffs claimed BODYARMOR’s fanciful labels, images, and product language somehow misled millions of consumers. However, when deposed under oath, plaintiffs conceded they were neither misled nor injured. The litigation spanned multiple jurisdictions and lasted almost two years.

Silver et al. v. BA Sports Nutrition, LLC (N.D. Cal).

BHB serves as lead trial counsel in an IP infringement matter for blockchain and cryptocurrency developer plaintiff Tari Labs seeking to protect its TARI® trademark against defendant Lightning Labs’ infringing “TARO” protocol. The Court granted Tari a full restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining Lightning Labs from further developing or launching TARO. The decision is the first in the country applying the Lanham Act to conduct involving open-source developer blockchain protocols.

Tari Labs LLC v. Lightning Labs Inc., (N.D. Cal).
Opposing counsel: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.

BHB obtained a complete arbitration trial victory on behalf of leading cryptocurrency fund Polychain Capital against investor claims regarding the corporate governance and tax treatment of various investments. Following a five week arbitration, the arbitrator granted each of Polychain’s claims, denied the investors’ claims, and awarded full attorneys’ fees and costs. The decision was later affirmed as California Superior Court judgment. BHB also prevailed in a companion lawsuit brought by the same investor before the Delaware Chancery Court, which denied the investors lawsuit attempting to compel disclosure of trading data and books and records information.

Greenhouse v. Polychain (Del. Chancery).
Opposing counsel: Jenner & Block LLP; Michelman & Robinson LLP.

BHB secured a major victory on behalf of growing dental cosmetics company Snow Teeth Whitening with implications for advertising and sponsorship agreements, and class actions generally. In September 2022 a New York federal court dismissed a lawsuit targeting Snow for supposedly misleading advertising. In its order dismissing the case entirely, the court ruled that the plaintiff did not have standing to bring the claims because he had not actually seen or relied on any of the supposedly false ads.

Kraus v. Snow Teeth Whitening, LLC et al. (E.D. NY).
Opposing Counsel: Wilkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.

BHB lawyers secured Rule 11 sanctions against plaintiffs' lawyers in a putative false labeling class action against Sunny Delight. A federal judge twice dismissed plaintiffs' class complaint for making false and misleading allegations. The first dismissal with leave to amend included $84,000 in sanctions for filing inaccurate pictures of the product. The second sanction resulted in a complete dismissal.

Michelle Hunt et al. v. Sunny Delight Beverages Co. et al. (C.D. Cal.).

BHB was retained by the Board of Directors of Summit Revolution, which owns and operates Powder Mountain, a 7,000-acre ski resort in Eden, Utah, to fend off the majority shareholder’s attempt to block the board from approving needed financing. Over the course of 11 days, the BHB team defeated the majority shareholders' TRO to prevent a vote on the financing, eliminated the then-blocking rights of the majority shareholder, and ultimately resolved the dispute days before the trial - allowing Powder Mountain to receive the cash infusion it needed.

Summit Revolution LLC et al, v. Revolution Mountain Holding Group (Del. Chancery).

BHB advised financial investors and creditors regarding litigation trust units in the ResCap bankruptcy and bondholder cramdown (up) concerns in TXU's burgeoning insolvency. In 2014, BHB was retained to advise one of five bondholders in a breach of contract action regarding a call right to purchase non-guaranteed notes in one of the debtor entities, which at the time of the complaint was worth more than $1 billion.

Energy Future Holdings Corp., et al. (Del. Bank 2014).

BHB successfully defended a multimillion-dollar class action launched against B&G Foods, Inc. in connection with its Ortega brand taco shells. Plaintiffs claimed that Ortega taco shells contained trace amounts of trans fats and filed suit on that basis. When Plaintiffs moved for class certification in 2021, BHB opposed the motion by conducting a survey that showed consumers did not care about, and were not likely to pay more for, deep-fried taco shells that were truthfully marketed as having “0g trans-fat per serving.” Following BHB’s opposition, the court ruled that no class could be certified on these facts.

Silva et al. v. B&G Foods, Inc. et al. (N.D. Cal).