Litigation

Unlike patent, trademark and copyright law, rights of publicity are governed by a patchwork of state statutes and common-law decisions, rather than by a single federal statute. And unlike trade secret law, rights of publicity are not subject to a uniform state law adopted in the vast majority of states. But as with valuing other intellectual property assets, right of publicity (ROP) valuations need to consider the unique characteristics of the subject asset and the context of the valuation.

In-depth analysis of recent key cases.

Discussion of key med mal cases.

The Supreme Court of Virginia recently held that insurance coverage for Chinese drywall claims could be denied under a pollution exclusion. As the first state supreme court to rule on the issue, the Virginia Supreme Court's analysis, as set forth in its ground-breaking decision, could potentially be followed by other courts in Chinese drywall coverage litigation and create a significant hurdle to policyholders seeking coverage.

Two conflicting California appellate court decisions issued this year highlight the difficulty of determining when an insurer owes a duty to defend disparagement by implication claims. This article discusses the two divergent California decisions, as well as fact patterns that courts have generally agreed are (and are not) implied disparagement claims triggering an insurer's duty to defend

Back in the analog days, a parade of lawyers and paralegals would march into the courtroom right before a trial started, carrying dozens of bankers' boxes filled with documents and other evidence. Now, a trial presentation technician walks into the courtroom carrying just a laptop, but one loaded with a trial exhibit database that contains the equivalent of hundreds of bankers' boxes of material.

Internet memes ' those attention-getting images, videos, and catchy phrases that whip across the Internet via e-mail and social media ' have long been a part of online culture. But while a corporate strategy of exploiting memes can be highly entertaining and can capture consumers' attention, using these online assets can be risky if intellectual property rights are infringed in their dissemination.

In a product liability design defect action, evidence establishing the defectiveness of a product is paramount to a plaintiff's case. Conducting a patent search and an investigation of the state of the patent art may yield fruitful evidence regarding the defect or relative safety of the product at issue in a product liability action. But first some background to set the environment for how patents become patents.