Commercial Law

  • New Ninth Circuit Rulings on Implied-Contract Claims Provide Guidance for Idea-Submission Cases

    In 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that state implied-in-fact contract claims weren't preempted by federal copyright law. Grosso v. Miramax Film Corp. The ruling resulted in a predictable increase in idea-submission suits over TV and film productions. But few judicial opinions since have cited Grosso. In June 2010, however, the Ninth Circuit issued two decisions ' with differing results ' that, by also drawing from precedents from decades before, illuminate how a court should consider the elements of an implied-contract case.

    June 30, 2010Amanda Bronstad and Stan Soocher

  • Contract Litigation

    From construction contracts, to supply contracts, to equipment leases, franchisors and franchisees might face the problem of litigating numerous legal disputes simultaneously. This, of course, can be devastating for a business, whether big or small. So what can you do to avoid these pitfalls?

    June 28, 2010Kevin Martin

  • Can We Resolve Franchise Disputes Faster, Cheaper and Better?

    Franchisors and franchisees need faster, cheaper, and better ways to resolve disputes. Planned early negotiation processes and early active intervention clauses can help parties and lawyers achieve these goals.

    June 28, 2010Steven K. Fedder, John Lande and Peter R. Silverman

  • Pay-for-Delay May Require a New Prescription

    Part One of this series discussed common IP settlement terms that may give rise to antitrust liability and how the analysis of whether a settlement agreement violates the antitrust laws depends upon many factors that are specific to the underlying facts. This second installment addresses recent challenges by the government and private plaintiffs to settlements between brand name and generic drug manufacturers, and how these challenges have further refined the antitrust framework for analyzing patent litigation settlement agreements in the pharmaceutical industry.

    June 28, 2010Miriam R. Vishio, Alex Hassid and Erin C. Wilcox

  • The 'Hot News' Doctrine in the Digital Age

    Last year, the Southern District of New York reignited the 90-year-old hot news doctrine and applied it in the Internet context. Since that decision, a number of entities have attempted to use the hot news doctrine to prevent the unauthorized use of time-sensitive content, including most recently, financial firms and media outlets attempting to prevent news-oriented Web sites from publishing their well-researched content.

    June 28, 2010ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Government Overpayment

    It is not fraud when the government mistakenly overpays businesses who participate in government programs or otherwise receive federal funds. But a false statement made to retain an overpayment is a "reverse false claim" in violation of the False Claims Act (FCA).

    June 24, 2010John N. Joseph and Matthew T. Newcomer

  • The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

    Aggressive federal prosecutors may have a new weapon in their arsenals to prosecute even low-level employee thefts of confidential employer information.

    June 24, 2010Stanley S. Arkin, Sean R. O'Brien and David M. Pohl

  • Bad Law on Double Dipping

    In last month's newsletter, we looked at the case of Rodriguez v. Rodriguez, in which the Appellate Division, Second Department, correctly found Supreme Court had erred by distributing the value of a service business and awarding spousal support from the income stream from that business, amounting to impermissible "double dipping." A month later, a different panel of the Second Department came to the opposite conclusion, throwing the issue into confusion.

    June 22, 2010Lee Rosenberg

  • Closely Held Corporate Shares Require a Discount

    In divorce, it is sometimes necessary to value shares of a closely held corporation. But there are stocks in privately held companies throughout New York whose shares are not traded on the NYSE or NASDAQ. These companies often have only a handful of shareholders, many of whom are family members or close friends.

    June 22, 2010Douglas A. Cooper and Matthew F. Didora