Saturday, November 21, 2009Last Update: 5:36 PM PT

      A woman claims Pfizer and Warner-Lambert concealed that the drug Lyrica (pregabalin), prescribed for off-label uses for "treatment of pain and neuropathy," can - and did - induce her husband to commit suicide, in a $100 million claim in Manhattan Federal Court

     Unipet USA sued Ballin LLC in Atlanta Federal Court to defend its "Suet To Go" trademark.
     
     The U.S. Olympic Committee says Olympic Limousine cannot use its trademark without permission, in Newark Federal Court.

     Ana Laspetkovski, a model, claims L'Oreal and Luxotica used her photo in ads without permission, in Los Angeles Superior Court.

     The Grocery Outlet hired a man on parole for sex offenses who was not supposed to have contact with minors, and let him influence hiring and solicit and threaten the young men hired, three plaintiffs claim in Solano County Court, Calif.
     
     Class-action complaints alleging Labor Code violations have been filed against these defendants: Ironwood Management, Quake City Casual, Ten Thirty Eight, and White Memorial Medical Center and Adventist Health System/West, in Los Angeles Superior Court; Citigroup and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, in Brooklyn Federal Court; The TJC Cos., in Birmingham, Ala., Federal Court; and Daniel Mullins Trucking, in Tampa Federal Court.
     (Companies not separated by commas are defendants in the same case.)

     Allstate refuses to give a discount to customers whose cars have anti-theft equipment, which is required by Pennsylvania law, a class action claims in Philadelphia Federal Court. Similar complaints were filed against Peerless, State Farm, Encompass, and Progressive Insurance.

     Elsevier, Blackwell, and Wiley Periodicals claim Research Periodicals & Books Services and others ordered scientific journals for the fraudulent purpose reselling them, in a RICO complaint in Manhattan Federal Court.
     Also named as defendants in the Elsevier complaint are International Budget Freight, Anand Jain, Bela Jain, Anita Sarna, Nand Sarna, and Prodyot Day.

     Students want the South Orange Community College District to stop sponsoring prayers at official events at Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College, in a civil rights complaint in Los Angeles Federal Court.

     Voxpath claims Best Buy, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, Sony and others violate its CD technology patents, in Marshall, Texas, Federal Court.

     Digimarc claims Shazam Entertainment violated three content-identification patents, in Portland, Ore., Federal Court.

     Penn Traffic, a 79-store grocery chain and food distributor based in central New York, filed for bankruptcy in Delaware, listing $150 million in assets and $137 million in debts. It is expected to sell most of its stores.
     
     Moonlight Basin Ranch and affiliates filed for bankruptcy in Butte, Mont., listing $166 million in assets and $95 million in debts.
     
     Diamond Bay LLC filed for bankruptcy in Charlotte, N.C., listing $37 million in assets and $47 million in debts.

      CVS Caremark inflated its share price through false and misleading statements, a class action claims in Providence, R.I., Federal Court.
     
     Shareholders accuse The Park Avenue of breach of fiduciary duties, usurpation of corporate opportunities and corporate waste, in New York County Court.
     
     Zale inflated its share price by failing to follow generally accepted accounting principles, shareholders say in Dallas Federal Court.
     
     SunPower Corp. inflated its share price through false and misleading statements, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers helped, shareholders say in San Francisco Federal Court.