Commercial Law

Features

This year, several changes to diverse aspects of California real estate law will go into effect, if they have not already done so. A comprehensive analysis of all the modifications made would be prohibitive in these pages, but here are a few key changes that may affect the real estate professional's job, the developer's business or the relationship of the landlord and tenant.

Features

The Supreme Court of California determined in January that the state Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL), codified at Civ. Code, ' 798 <i>et seq.</i>, does not preempt local rent control ordinances that allow mobilehome park owners to separately charge park residents for property taxes imposed on park land. <i>Cacho v. Boudreau</i>, 40 Cal.4th 341 (Cal.,1/11/2007) (Kennard, J.). The opinion clarified an apparent conflict between the MRL and the mobilehome rent control law then in force in the City of Chula Vista ' a local law similar to many rent control ordinances throughout the State. The decision also resolved a split among the Appellate Divisions as to which items may be considered components of 'rent' for which landlords may raise monthly rents without violating the anti-gouging provision of the MRL.

Features

One of the most pressing issues faced by any business, but especially those in the financial services industry, is the privacy and security of financial and other nonpublic information. This is the first in a series of three articles addressing some of the key issues surrounding corporate responsibility with respect to the privacy of information and security breaches. Whether public or private, small company or large, if you or your client are in possession of the personal information described below, the following series of articles is essential reading.

On Jan. 22, 2007, after more than a decade of study, the FTC released its long-anticipated new Federal Trade Commission Rule on Franchising. This article outlines the key elements of the New Rule. The New Rule changes the coverage of the existing FTC Rule.

Features

Although patent enforcement efforts have been historically dominated by the technology-elite, few businesses of the future will be exempt from the impact of patent infringement litigation. Indeed, data published by the USPTO and the federal judiciary reveal that the number of patent applications filed annually and the number of patent infringement litigations initiated annually have both more than doubled since 1990. Simply stated, business leaders of the future are increasingly likely to encounter one of two situations:1) The firm believes others are infringing its patents; or 2) Others accuse the firm of infringing their patents.

Features

Nanotechnology financiers were biting their nails this past October as market forces were engaged by regulatory forces. In the same week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ('FDA') held its first full public meeting on nanotechnology safety and environmental risk, and the Environmental Protection Agency ('EPA') placed a Notice of Rulemaking regarding nanotech product commercial release requirements in the Congressional Record. Investors see only risk &mdash; each of the two agencies has the power to shut down the evolving nanotechnology industry.

Features

Although online blogging has gone mainstream in some professions, there's one group of people mostly absent from the blogosphere: the in-house bar. That said, a few in-house blogs do exist, and their numbers are growing steadily.

Features

Today, the pervasive role that technology has assumed in business and legal practice, as more and more of our daily lives are lived online, provides a more fundamental challenge to how attorneys practice business law. In an age when 'paper file' has become an anachronism and an oxymoron, business law and the way it is practiced have required more than just tinkering with particular rules.