Apple controls a whopping 62 percent of the tablet computer market, and just as in the smartphone patent wars, tech companies are using the court system to try to gain an upper hand. With litigation over tablets already a thriving industry, why has this new area turned into a pitched battle so soon?

Instead of heading straight to the U.S. Supreme Court, backers of the Prop 8 ban on gay marriage are seeking rehearing by an en banc panel of the 9th Circuit, arguing that the court’s holding in Perry v. Brown conflicts with the Supreme Court’s Baker v.

The California Supreme Court has waded into a legal morass over medical marijuana, granting review of two rulings addressing cities’ efforts to regulate pot dispensaries. In a separate marijuana case, the court agreed to review a decision over whether a skunky smell is enough to warrant a search.

Is the Delaware Court of Chancery’s market share of M&A litigation slipping? Yes, according to a new academic study, which found a huge jump in the number of suits filed in multiple jurisdictions. But the court is still holding onto most of the strongest cases, the study indicates.

A recent split decision by the Federal Circuit illustrates the divisions in the court over the standards for preliminary injunctions as well as for patent invalidity based on obviousness. The case concerns a patent for methods for preparing frozen samples of a type of liver cell used for evaluating potential drugs.