San Rafael California Insurance Law Firm

California-born celebrity Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the investors in a diamond company that recently received a warning letter from the Federal Trade Commission over advertising practices. Diamond Foundry, which counts the actor among its backers, is a purveyor of laboratory-created diamonds. These man-made diamonds have chemical properties equivalent to those of natural, or mined, diamonds. However, rather than being mined from the earth, these diamonds are grown entirely inside a laboratory, typically through the use of a small plasma reactor that allows chemical elements to form a final stone.

Several lab-grown diamond companies received these warnings in April 2019. The statements noted that these companies must make clear that the diamonds they sell are lab-grown rather than "natural." The FTC letter said that it was concerned that consumers could believe that they are buying mined diamonds instead of man-made versions because of the terminology in the advertisements, especially on social media. For example, some ads called the stones "aboveground forged" or "real diamonds created in America" without using the term "laboratory-grown."

From San Rafael’s flash floods in late February to an “atmospheric river” flooding the North Bay, Northern California has seen our share of rough waters in the last few months. And according to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, more than a quarter of businesses that close because of a disaster like a flood never re-open.

As local business owners assess the recent damage, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Prosecutors in California say that a former licensed insurance agent stole more than $100,000 from small business owners and general contractors by selling them bogus workers' compensation policies. The 31-year-old man faces a raft of felony counts, including insurance fraud, forgery and grand theft. Prosecutors say the man used the money to cover gambling debts and buy luxury items such as designer clothing and sporting equipment. He was released from custody after posting bail in the amount of $100,000.

The man allegedly told small business owners that their workers' compensation policies would be backed by major insurance providers. However, prosecutors from the Orange County District Attorney's Office claim he pocketed the money instead and provided his clients with no coverage whatsoever. Prosecutors say that he was able to avoid suspicion by issuing his clients with fake certificates of insurance.

A patent dispute is moving forward in the Southern District of California between two major technology corporations. The litigation between Apple and Qualcomm hinges on whether the latter's alleged monopoly on chipset technologies for mobile phones led to overpayments by Apple and other equipment manufacturers. Qualcomm has previously faced investigations by the European Union and Korean regulators as well as the Federal Trade Commission, paying billions of dollars in antitrust fines over its licensing process for its patents for mobile chipsets.

Qualcomm said that its patent license complies with government regulations that require it to be "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory," or FRAND. While the chipset company said its licenses were FRAND, Apple lawyers argued that the federal judge overseeing the case should not declare that Qualcomm's licenses meet the standard. They also accused Qualcomm of using the litigation as a tool in potential future negotiations with Apple over including the chipsets in its iPhones and other mobile devices. Apple attorneys argued that the company refuses licenses to companies that manufacture their own chipsets as well as charging exorbitant fees for its licenses that far exceed the competition. As a result, Apple argued that Qualcomm's licenses do not meet the FRAND standard.