LJN Newsletters

QR (quick response) codes are a hot trend in marketing. The compact squares with contrasting-color patterns are showing up everywhere, including print ads, packaging, business cards, signs, art ' even tombstones!

Bringing e-discovery software in-house can significantly reduce costs and improve efficiency. However, there are many needs related to e-discovery that go beyond simply managing discovery documents. At Thompson & Knight (TK), our litigation support team has found ways to use our e-discovery software for tasks ranging from project management to data analysis.

This column provides an overview of section breaks, how to examine existing section breaks, and setting new section breaks.

In our profession, most law firms focus on social media access, the Internet, intranets and shared client portals separately: Knowledge-focused firms will look at organizational and behavioral change as separate drivers from technology, and will treat the likes of Lean Six Sigma management principles, legal project management and alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) as standalone projects. If, however, the legal industry moves the way of consumer-driven market forces ' the merger of social media, Internet, intranet and shared client portals into a single seamless platform ' then the "Facebook firm" driving organizational and behavioral change for legal evolves and becomes a realistic business model

The Ninth Circuit has now concluded that the ACPA does not apply to a domain name that is first registered prior to the time the trademark at issue becomes distinctive, even if the domain name is later re-registered by a new owner. However, the Ninth Circuit also held that the ACPA can apply to new domain names registered by the new owner after the mark acquires distinctiveness.

The aspect of the Internet euphemistically described as "the cloud" has created a seemingly bountiful opportunity for the unscrupulous to acquire the means to attack innocent and vulnerable victims remotely and anonymously. And unlike the fictional portrayal of the apocalyptical children's tale of Chicken Little and his "The sky is falling!" warning, the current digital version is hardly a flight of fantasy.

On Dec. 15 and 16, just as Congress was preparing to go dark until after the New Year, The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary held hearings on SOPA. And what seemed destined to be a long drawn-out fight by a few in attendance who were in opposition of passing the Bill against Committee Chairman and sponsor Lamar Smith (R-TX) and its many supporters, took a bizarre and sudden turn as Day 2 restarted after lunch ' and maybe more importantly, as Representatives' flights home for recess were in danger of being missed.

What happens when a U.S. company's trademark is misused on the Internet outside of the United States? Short of litigating in that country, is all hope lost in addressing the problem? With the Internet and its global reach, even minor abuses are easily found and can cause real problems for a brand owner. Given the obvious jurisdictional roadblocks that exist in litigating in the U.S. against a foreign person or entity, there are some practical tactics that could prove useful in addressing and preventing this type of problematic behavior.