Although passage of the federal Employee Free Choice Act ("EFCA") has taken a distant back seat to health care reform, the proposed changes to workplace unionization and collective bargaining rules have significant potential impacts for business owners.
In the filing of a patent application, the patent agent or attorney is like the commanding officer conducting the battle. This "General" has specialized techniques for drafting and prosecuting patent applications and attempts to get the best patents issued for the client.
Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an opinion in a long-running patent misuse litigation of potential significance for any patent owner participating in a patent pool or considering participation in a patent pool.
The USPTO established the Peer Review Pilot Program (the "Pilot") to test whether "the organized collection and submission of documents together with comments by the public will produce better examination results by presenting prior art known by the public to the Examiner early in the prosecution." The USPTO is expected to publish a comprehensive report outlining the results and next steps.
New comprehensive and self-executing rules in New Jersey have encouraged thought that litigants keep an eye on the state to see whether these procedures shorten the delays associated with litigation of patent cases, thereby making New Jersey the next favored jurisdiction or IP "rocket docket."
At the same time steps are being instituted to curtail COLI, there is an ever-increasing need to fund for employee medical care and post-retirement medical expenses. The use of COLI and the new Health Savings Accounts ("HSA") can provide a robust funding vehicle.
According to the author: "While a good system and good decisions require that origination be recognized and rewarded, it has not been my experience that a change in compensation system will make rainmakers out of service partners."
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
As consumers continue to shift purchasing and consumption habits in the aftermath of the pandemic, manufacturers are increasingly reliant on third-party logistics and warehousing to ensure their products timely reach the market.
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
The copyright for the original versions of Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse have expired. Now, members of the public can create — and are busy creating — their own works based on these beloved characters. Suppose, though, we want to tell stories using Batman for which the copyright does not expire until 2035. We'll review five hypothetical works inspired by the original Batman comic and analyze them under fair use.
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.
