Commercial Law

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Many companies that have had disputes with developers have been surprised to discover that the agreements signed, often without input from legal, failed to hold developers to measurable standards, give the company ongoing interest in deliverables, or provide meaningful remedies to problems that arise.

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The tax credit for research and development (R&D) of internal-use software under Section 41 of the Internal Revenue Code has been renewed 16 times since its implementation in 1981. The Currently, it has not been extended beyond calendar year 2015.

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Because 'information that an individual shares through social networking websites like Facebook may be copied and disseminated by another,' the expectation that such information is private, in the traditional sense of the word, is not a reasonable one.

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In the last few years, every college football fan became familiar with "Johnny Football," "The Honey Badger," and "Famous Jameis." These recognizable names are not only associated with Heisman-quality talent, but also with the new world of student athlete trademark registrations.

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Data breaches and cyberattacks aren't new occurrences, but it can sometimes feel like they are. It's only in the last few years that we've seen these attacks make headlines more and more, increasing in both quantity and impact.

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The challenges inherent in managing employee mental illness were vividly illustrated for the world in March of this year with the intentional crash of a Germanwings aircraft by an apparently mentally ill pilot. Although the repercussions of such tragic events can be more significant in safety-sensitive industries like transportation, these kinds of tragic events can happen in any workplace.

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The issue of damages remains a hot topic at the Federal Circuit, with patentees being continuously reminded that damages must be apportioned to account for the value of patented features, as opposed to unpatented features, of an accused product. However, the vast majority of these cases involve apportionment in the context of reasonable royalties. Very little has been said about apportionment in a lost profits analysis.

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Valuation discounts in estate planning has permitted the transfer of assets from one generation to another in an economically efficient manner. Two of the various discount methods claim lack of control (minority interest discount) and lack of marketability. The IRS has traditionally objected to these approaches in intra-family transfers, while Congress has attempted to legislate away these "loopholes" unsuccessfully and the Treasury Department is contemplating new regulations to accomplish this goal.