What's Your Practice Worth?
Law firms, because of caseload analysis and the project-oriented nature of their work, are notoriously hard to value, even more so than accounting firms and other professional service industries where there is an established schedule of work for at least a 12-month period.
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Are You Thinking About China?
If you have been thinking about entering the China market to diversify your revenue stream, here are some legal issues to consider.
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New 'Dualing' Amendments to Dealer-Protection Laws Pass Legislatures
Many auto dealer contracts prohibit "dualing," that is, operating competing linemakes out of the same facility. Under new legislation passed in some states, automobile manufacturers could be forced to allow dualing, notwithstanding any terms to the contrary in written agreements and trademark laws.
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News Briefs
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
Court Watch
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Employee Free Choice Act Slowed, But Not Dead
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.
Mapping the Technical Terrain
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.
Federal Circuit Decision Provides Guidance for Joint Licensing of Pooled Patents
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.
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The Peer Review Pilot Program at the USPTO
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.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- 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's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- Surveys in Patent Infringement Litigation: The Next FrontierMost experienced intellectual property attorneys understand the significant role surveys play in trademark infringement and other Lanham Act cases, but relatively few are likely to have considered the use of such research in patent infringement matters. That could soon change in light of the recent admission of a survey into evidence in <i>Applera Corporation, et al. v. MJ Research, Inc., et al.</i>, No. 3:98cv1201 (D. Conn. Aug. 26, 2005). The survey evidence, which showed that 96% of the defendant's customers used its products to perform a patented process, was admitted as evidence in support of a claim of inducement to infringe. The court admitted the survey into evidence over various objections by the defendant, who had argued that the inducement claim could not be proven without the survey.Read More ›
- The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance ProgramsThe parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.Read More ›
- In the SpotlightOn May 9, 2003, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced that Bayer Corporation, the pharmaceutical manufacturer, had been sentenced and ordered to pay a criminal fine of $5,590,800 stemming from its earlier plea of guilty to violating the Federal Prescription Drug Marketing Act by failing to list with the FDA its drug product, Cipro, that was privately labeled for an HMO. Such listing is required under the federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act. The Federal Prescription Drug Marketing Act, Pub. L. 100-293, enacted on April 22, 1988, as modified on August 26, 1992 by the Prescription Drug Amendments (PDA) Pub. L. 102-353, 106 Stat. 941, amended sections 301, 303, 503, and 801 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, codified at 21 U.S.C. '' 331, 333, 353, 381, to establish requirements for distributing prescription drug samples.Read More ›
