Streetbeat News

Legal

VRNOF

Verano Holdings Corp. (CSE:VRNO) (OTCQX:VRNOF) is in a legal dispute with the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) over the revocation of its Integrated Facility License. Verano first secured the license in June but lost it in August when the AMCC chose Insa Alabama LLC instead. Verano filed a lawsuit alleging that the AMCC has no right to revoke licenses and that its exercise of power conflicts with the authority provided by the Alabama Legislature.

Portfolio Pulse from Jelena Martinovic

October 12, 2023 | 1:53 pm

GOOG

GOOGL

SPY

VGK

Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., has pledged to challenge the European Union's threat to dismantle its advertising business. This sets the stage for a potential antitrust battle that could rival its ongoing conflict with the US Justice Department and state attorneys general.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

October 12, 2023 | 1:39 pm

SPE

Special Opportunities Fund, Inc. (NYSE:SPE) has reached a settlement of a class action lawsuit against FAST Acquisition Corp. The proposed settlement, subject to court approval, involves a cash payment of $12.5 million by the defendants. After accounting for litigation expenses, former common stockholders of FAST who received a pro rata liquidation payment should receive an additional payment of at least $0.50 per share in Q1 2024.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

October 12, 2023 | 1:31 pm

HSAI

OUST

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has terminated a patent infringement investigation initiated by Ouster (NYSE:OUST) against Hesai Group (NASDAQ:HSAI). The ITC confirmed Hesai's motion to terminate the investigation, affirming that Ouster's allegations were baseless. Hesai has accused Ouster of spreading false information about Hesai's lidar products and its ties to the Chinese government.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

October 12, 2023 | 12:20 pm

AAPL

META

Fitness app developer Andre Elijah has filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) alleging that his AEI Fitness app project was abruptly canceled just days before its scheduled launch. Elijah is seeking $3.2 million in immediate damages and hundreds of millions more in lost revenue. The lawsuit also names Zuckerberg and Alo, a Beverly Hills fitness apparel and accessories company, as defendants. This lawsuit comes at a time when competition in the VR headset market is intensifying, with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) set to launch its Apple Vision Pro for sale in early 2024.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Neuro

October 12, 2023 | 12:16 pm

ILMN

Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) is considering divesting its acquisition of Grail if it loses the final appeals in U.S. or European courts. The company completed its $7.1 billion takeover of Grail in August 2021, despite opposition from regulators. If it wins both cases, it will reassess Grail's assets, which might result in integrating or divesting part or the entire unit. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the EU have ordered Illumina to divest Grail, which Illumina appealed against.

Portfolio Pulse from Vandana Singh

October 12, 2023 | 11:38 am

GOOG

GOOGL

SONO

Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., has won a patent dispute against Sonos Inc. over multi-room listening technology. The ruling allows Google to re-enable the multi-room speaker pairing feature on its Nest and Google speakers, which had been disabled following the lawsuit. An update to the Google Home app is expected within the next 48 hours.

Portfolio Pulse from Rounak Jain

October 12, 2023 | 10:34 am

MSFT

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is appealing against a $28.9 billion tax liability claim by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The dispute is related to the allocation of income and expenses among Microsoft’s global subsidiaries from 2004 to 2013. Microsoft argues that changes in its corporate structure and practices make the IRS's claims irrelevant to current operations.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Neuro

October 12, 2023 | 7:54 am

BTCUSD

SNAP

Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, had expressed concerns about competition from Binance, raising funds from a Saudi Crown Prince, and buying stocks of Snap Inc., ahead of the crypto exchange's collapse, as revealed in court testimonies by ex-Alameda CEO, Caroline Ellison. Ellison also disclosed her role in preparing seven different balance sheets for Genesis, months before the company's bankruptcy.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Neuro

October 12, 2023 | 6:34 am

BTCUSD

COIN

The crypto market is still recovering from the FTX blowup last year, with the market value significantly decreased, NFT trading plummeted, and venture capital deals shrunk. Bitcoin has recovered by 60% this year, trading around $27,000, but remains below the record high of $69,000 set in November 2021. The $3 trillion market has now shrunk to $1 trillion. Legal proceedings against crypto firms like Genesis Global, Celsius Network, Voyager Digital, Three Arrows Capital, and BlockFi Inc. have been mounting. Coinbase Global Inc. is battling SEC allegations, and Binance is embroiled in enforcement actions by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and SEC.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Neuro

October 12, 2023 | 4:50 am