The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that the Trump Administration failed to follow procedures set forth under federal law in appointing Ken Cuccinelli to a leadership role in US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in 2019. As a result, two rule changes to the asylum process implemented under his leadership should be considered nullified, according to the judge.

The lawsuit alleges that Google uses its G Suite for Education platform to mine the personal information of schoolchildren, violating federal and state laws.

On Tuesday, February 18, 2020, United States District Court Judge Amos L. Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas denied Huawei Technologies USA, Inc.'s motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit challenging the National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA"). Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications equipment maker, challenged the constitutionality of Section 889 of the NDAA, which prevents federal agencies and their contractors from utilizing Huawei's equipment and services. Judge Mazzant granted the U.S. Government's motion for summary judgment, concluding that Congress acted appropriately within its powers.

Nanoco, a British nanotechnology company that makes quantum dots for vibrant screen displays, announced that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung. The case was filed last week in Texas federal court, and alleges that Samsung has willfully infringed Nanoco's patents with regard to importing and selling televisions that unlawfully incorporated Nanoco's technology.

The federal appeals court allowed the FCC to continue giving internet service providers substantial discretion to control the way in which consumers access the internet.

On Wednesday, January 29, 2020, a federal jury reached a verdict in California Institute of Technology v. Broadcom Limited and Apple, Inc, a lawsuit involving alleged patent infringement of the California Institute of Technology's patents on Wi-Fi networking technologies. The jury awarded $1.1 billion in damages to the university for the patent infringement. Specifically, the jury awarded the university $270 million for Broadcom's infringement and $837 million for Apple's infringement.

A $550 million settlement has been announced in a class action lawsuit against Facebook alleging that it violated an Illinois privacy law through its use of facial recognition technology. Since 2010, the social media platform has used a photo recognition feature on users' photos in order to offer Tag Suggestions. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleged that the practice of collecting biometric data of this nature without users' permission or any information as to how long the information would be kept violated Illinois law.

Tech giant Google faces scrutiny from state attorneys general and the federal Justice Department for potential violations related to online searches, advertising, and Android products.

On Friday, January 17, 2020, a three-judge panel in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded a climate change lawsuit brought by Our Children's Trust against the federal government. The panel reversed the district court's interlocutory orders and remanded the case to the district court with instructions to dismiss the case for lack of standing. The lawsuit involves 21 young people who allege climate-change related injuries caused by the federal government's "permit[ting], authoriz[ing], and subsidiz[ing] fossil fuel."

Last week, 14 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the federal government to challenge new regulations put forth by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that are estimated to cause almost 700,000 people to lose food stamp assistance. The proposed changes would affect states' ability to obtain waivers for work requirements that apply to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by implementing more restrictive definitions of exceptions to work mandates related to things including insufficient job availability, geographic boundaries, and duration.