A federal judge sitting in Philadelphia has struck down the 1998 Child Online Protection Act ('COPA') on March 22. The Act was challenged as unconstitutionally vague by health Web sites and the American Civil Liberties Union ('ACLU').
In-depth analysis of the latest verdicts.
The Supreme Court's Medimmune decision relates directly to the federal courts' jurisdictional requirement of case or controversy, but by overruling the Federal Circuit's Gen-Probe decision it may also have changed the balance of power between patentees and licensees.
The most recent verdicts for you and your practice.
Expert analysis of recent rulings.
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.
The Supreme Court of California determined in January that the state Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL), codified at Civ. Code, ' 798 et seq., does not preempt local rent control ordinances that allow mobilehome park owners to separately charge park residents for property taxes imposed on park land. Cacho v. Boudreau, 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.
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.
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.
