Features

Supreme Court to Consider If Lanham Act's Name Trademark Prohibition Violates First Amendment
This case has important implications not only for trademark registrations, but also potentially in determining collisions between trademark rights, rights of publicity, and freedom of speech considerations in future cases.
Columns & Departments
Development
Site Plan Denial Overturned Claim for Encroachment Reinstated Area Variance Upheld
Features

The Changing Role of Business Development Professionals In Law Firms
While the roles were historically viewed as something of "attorney concierge," more law firms are starting to empower business development officers to proactively generate business tips and leads for the firm.
Columns & Departments
Players On the Move
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
Features

Bankruptcy Court Rules Contract to Produce Documentary Was Not a Personal Services Contract
Bankruptcy courts continue to adjudicate disputes regarding Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code, which addresses the disposition of executory contracts between the debtor and third parties. And we continue to report on developments in this area. Often the issue involves whether the contract is an executory contract that is subject to being assumed and assigned.
Features

SEC Sued Over Private Fund Adviser Rule
The Managed Funds Association and five other industry groups have sued the SEC over its new private fund advisers rule, saying the agency has overreached its statutory authority and interferes with contracts.
Features

The Complex Relationship Between Real Estate and Technology
In place of the common assumption from the COVID years that real estate and technology spending were inversely related, it's becoming increasingly clear that the two line items — which trail only talent on the overall cost hierarchy — have a more complex relationship.
Features

Trade Secret Protection for Consumer-Facing Products
Intellectual property laws, including copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret laws can provide avenues for companies to protect their IP. But it's not always clear what assets are protectable and what are not.
Columns & Departments
Co-ops and Condominiums
Condominium's Delay Constituted Acceptance of Alteration Agreement
Features

Online Extra: AI Copyright — Ethical and Legal Considerations for Marketing and Sales
Standing still and waiting to take action wasn't easy, but the patience paid off. Now, I understand some of AI's limitations and ways to leverage it to propel marketing and sales activities.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.Read More ›
- Meet the Lawyer Working on Inclusion Rider LanguageAt the Oscars in March, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand made “inclusion rider” go viral. But Kalpana Kotagal, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll had already worked for months to write the language for such provisions. Kotagal was developing legal language for contract provisions that Hollywood's elite could use to require studios and other partners to employ diverse workers on set.Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›