Commercial Law

  • Supreme Court Revisits Test for Deciding Obviousness

    The U.S. Supreme Court has recently shown an interest in intellectual property in general and patents in particular. Most prominent among the recent cases is KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., which presents perhaps the most difficult question in substantive patent law: When is the subject of a patent application a true 'invention' ' that is, something that promotes the progress of a useful art sufficient to warrant giving the applicant exclusive rights to the technology claimed for the next 20 years. Conversely, when is the invention 'obvious' ' merely taking a step that anyone of ordinary skill would take, confronted with the same problem and possessing all the knowledge already known to the field?

    January 31, 2007Elizabeth Rader and Thomas Goldstein

  • News Briefs

    Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.

    January 31, 2007ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Court Watch

    Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.

    January 31, 2007Cynthia Klaus, Jon S. Swierzewski, and Sejal Desai Winkelman

  • International Arbitration Award Overturned Under California Law

    California caught the attention of international franchisors and franchisees who have arbitration clauses in their franchise agreements in the recently filed opinion in Gueyffier v. Ann Summers, Ltd. ___ Cal.App.4th ___, 2006 WL ___ (2d Dist. Oct. 26, 2006). The decision held that an arbitrator exceeded his authority when he ignored provisions in a franchise agreement that limited the circumstances under which he was permitted to find the franchisor in breach.

    January 31, 2007Keith D. Klein and Kenneth R. Costello

  • Index

    A complete list of the cases included in this issue.

    January 31, 2007ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Musical Chairs for Firms' Public Faces

    It all started when communications director Peter Columbus left O'Melveny & Myers for a position at Kaye Scholer this fall. To fill the opening at O'Melveny, John Buchanan left his job at Heller Ehrman. To fill that slot at Heller, Patrick Bustamante left his post at DLA Piper. 'Clearly there's a domino effect,' Buchanan said.

    January 31, 2007Kellie Schmitt

  • Technology in Marketing

    First came business card exchanges, then networking events, then law firms became more organized and developed marketing databases to keep track of all clients, potential clients, referral sources and mailing lists. Then along came Client Relationship Management systems otherwise known as CRM. Now we have ERM (enterprise relationship management), RCM (relationship capital management) and more acronyms than you can shake a stick at. No matter what the new technology, the bottom line persists: Lawyers need to maintain and grow their world of relationships in order to be successful and generate revenue.

    January 31, 2007Nancy Manzo

  • The Place to Network

    Has the importance of billing time all but eclipsed the potential gain of going out to lunch with a prospective client? As profits per partner keep skyrocketing, the case needs to be made for the old-fashioned business lunch. Clever 'rainmakers' have a keen eye for business development. They have realized that this forum presents a brilliant opportunity for networking and smoking out new opportunities. New clients aren't lining up outside your office so get smart and get out of that chair!

    January 31, 2007Christy Burke