Commercial Law

  • Export Controls for Technologies Described in U.S. Invention Disclosures

    Last month, we published an article discussing the patent application foreign filing license requirements for various countries, including the United States. As the issue went to press, the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") issued a Federal Register Notice warning patent applicants that the exportation of information relating to technologies developed in the United States to foreign countries for purposes of preparing patent applications to be filed in the United States is subject to clearance review by the Bureau of Industry and Security ("BIS") of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Here is the update.

    August 28, 2008Karen Canaan

  • Matching Bad Faith Doctrine and Damages

    Failure to follow the purpose and logic of precedent risks irrational outcomes and unjust results. These risks are apparent in recent efforts to apply a "future benefits" rule in cases alleging bad faith by commercial insurers.

    August 28, 2008ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Wine Online

    Now can I ship wine to out-of-state consumers? That's what people at wineries, and even retailers, have been asking e-commerce counsel since the Supreme Court decided Granholm v. Heald, which struck down wine-shipping regulations in Michigan and New York as discriminatory under the Dormant Commerce Clause. There are at least 50 answers to the question.

    August 28, 2008Cary S. Wiggins

  • Movers & Shakers

    Who's doing what; who's moving where.

    August 28, 2008ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • What's New in the Law

    Recent high-profile cases of interest to you and your practice.

    August 28, 2008Robert W. Ihne

  • Taming the Tenant's Form of Lease

    Accustomed to manning the ramparts in defense of its landlord client's form of lease, it is always a bit unsettling for a landlord's lawyer to be advised by its client that "for this national tenant, we must work from the tenant's form of lease." Suddenly, instead of engaging in the familiar determination of which of the tenant's requested lease revisions are acceptable to the landlord, the lawyer is faced with determining which essential provisions of a lease from landlord's perspective are either entirely or substantially missing from the tenant's form of lease and then negotiating to include such provisions.

    August 27, 2008Myles Hannan

  • New York's Labor Law

    Both Labor Law '240(1) and '241(6) impose a nondelegable duty on property owners to provide specified protections to workers. This duty exists regardless of whether or not the owner controlled, directed, or supervised the work. As the courts have repeatedly observed, the imposition of this duty protects workers, by placing ultimate responsibility for their safety upon owners and contractors, instead of on the workers themselves.

    August 27, 2008ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Consent to Sublease

    Substantial portions of commercial space are commonly available via sublease. In comparison with a direct lease (which customarily becomes effective upon execution and delivery by the Landlord and the Tenant), a sublease usually only becomes effective if and when the Sublandlord and Subtenant execute and deliver the Sublease and the Master Landlord executes and delivers a Consent to Sublease.

    August 27, 2008Jay A. Gitles

  • Supreme Court Speaks Again on Punitive Damages

    On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, a ruling likely to fortify the view that an award of punitive damages should not exceed the amount of the compensatory award. To be sure, some will argue that there are, may be, or ought to be, exceptions; some will argue that the Court was only deciding federal common law in a maritime case and not the limits of state common law; and some may say there is still support for accepting punitive awards that exceed a 1:1 ratio.

    August 27, 2008ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |