Commercial Law

  • Analysis of Decision By Supreme Court on Video Games

    Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and his teammates recently mowed down California's ban on violent video games with fully loaded First Amendment precedents and barbed retorts to opposing arguments. In doing so, the U.S. Supreme Court reinforced a fundamental point: First Amendment protections do not depend on the medium of communication. Thus, video games are protected speech, and restrictions based on their content will be subject to strict scrutiny.

    July 28, 2011James Chadwick and Thayer Preece

  • State Legislatures Consider UCC Article 9 Amendments

    In early 2009 we reported about the formation by the Uniform Law Commission and the American Law Institute of a drafting committee to consider the first comprehensive set of changes to Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code since the amendments approved in July 1998. Given that approximately six months have elapsed since the launch of the legislative approval process for the 2010 amendments, we thought it an opportune time to review the progress of adoption of these amendments.

    July 28, 2011Alan M. Christenfeld and Barbara M. Goodstein

  • The Case of the Broken Checklist

    Intellectual property rights, such as a domain name, and trademarks and copyrights, can far outweigh an e-commerce enterprise's (and other types of businesses') tangible assets in value — and must be covered in the checklists that loan officers and outside counsel review to complete loan documentation.

    July 28, 2011Stanley P. Jaskiewicz

  • Protecting IP Rights in a New gTLD World

    The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the international body governing Internet naming and addressing practices, approved in June a plan that allows for a virtually unlimited number of new generic top-level domains (new gTLDs), including new non-English, character-set international domain names. Companies concerned with protecting intellectual property rights have two ways to address the issue — to the right of the dot and to the left of the dot.

    July 28, 2011Elisa Cooper

  • The New Mandatory Self-Disclosure Rule in New Hampshire's Family Division

    The new Family Division Rule 1.25-A (Rule) will bring significant changes to the practice of family law in New Hampshire. It requires parties to produce financial information shortly after the commencement of a family court proceeding, without waiting for discovery requests to be propounded.

    July 27, 2011Jeanmarie Papelian

  • Court Watch

    Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.

    July 27, 2011Michael W. Tyler

  • Courts' Intervention in Arbitration Disputes Keeps Franchises Busy

    The decision in ATT Mobility v. Concepcion was announced on April 27, just a few days before a panel of three franchise attorneys presented an update on arbitration trends at the 44th Annual International Franchise Association Legal Symposium.

    July 27, 2011Kevin Adler

  • NASAA Proposes Four Exemptions for State Registrations

    The North American Securities Administrators Association ("NASAA") has proposed four exemptions to state registration and disclosure requirements, representing a welcome effort to standardize exemptions at the state level.

    July 27, 2011Kevin Adler

  • Job Discrimination Against Muslims

    Despite the EEOC's dire predictions, Muslims, Arabs, and other people of eastern descent living in the United States have not seen the social ostracism experienced by these groups in other countries.

    July 25, 2011Philip M. Berkowitz

  • When Office Tenants Go Dark

    Most office leases require tenants to actively carry on business from their leased premises, and prohibit tenants from vacating or abandoning the premises. It is becoming increasingly common, however, for tenants to object to these provisions and to request the lease include a "go-dark" provision.

    July 25, 2011Laurie Sanderson