Features
Trademark Protection in Cyberspace Rescued
A recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, <i>Rescuecom Corp. v. Google Inc.</i>, has clarified precedent that had been assumed to foreclose Lanham Act challenges to the surreptitious use of trademarks to compete in cyberspace. In the wake of <i>Rescuecom</i>, that interpretation has been rejected, and advertisers have a potent weapon to protect their trademarks against unfair competition on the Web.
Features
Social Media Policies: Your Firm Needs One
Being engaged in social networks has enormous value for your firm. Through them, you can establish thought leadership, find new recruits, provide a more efficient way for potential clients to find you online, and participate in and monitor discussions about the issues that impact your clients and your firm. The first thing you must do is create a social media policy ' or modify an existing policy that is free and available for you to borrow.
Features
Does Joinder of a Forum Defendant Always Prevent Removal?
A state-court action cannot, as a general rule, be removed to federal court where a resident of the forum state has been joined as a defendant. 28 U.S.C. '1441(b). This is commonly known as the "forum defendant rule." The rule reflects the assumption that "[federal] diversity jurisdiction is unnecessary because there is less reason to fear state court prejudice against the defendants if one or more of them is from the forum state." Spencer v.…
Features
Coverage for Environmental Compliance Costs
With the financial crisis occupying the Obama administration, the anticipated barrage of new environmental laws, policies, and regulations has yet to materialize. When the switch is turned on, however, the costs to policyholders are likely to be substantial, and just as likely, policyholders will test whether some of those costs can be passed on to their carriers.
Features
Is an Insurer Obligated to Defend the Prosecution of Affirmative Claims on Behalf of Its Insured?
Insurers are not required to "defend" affirmative claims. But "defense" of affirmative claims may be covered if factually related to and necessary to defense. A look at recent case law.
TTAB Fraud Standard
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ("Board") of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") has routinely invalidated trademark registrations based on findings of fraud following its decision in 2003 in <i>Medinol v. Neuro Vasx, Inc.</i> The Board's fraud standard does not require proof of scienter or intent to defraud, but rather a mere showing that the applicant knew, or should have known, that certain statements made in trademark applications or renewal declarations were inaccurate.
Lanham Act
In <i>Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.</i>, the Supreme Court considered the overlap of copyright and trademark/unfair competition law, concluding that a company did not commit false advertising under '43(a) of the Trademark Act (15 U.S.C. '1125(a)) by representing that it was the author of a previously copyrighted work it had not actually created, as long as its identity as the source of the copied work was clear to the public.
Tafas v. Doll: Where Is the USPTO Headed?
In what should be a major wake-up call to all patent practitioners and patent applicants, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld three out of the four highly contentious rule proposals that were proffered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") in 2007.
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- 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 ›
- 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 ›
- What Does 2024 Hold for Cybersecurity?Our annual poll of experts on the trends and developments to watch out for in 2024 in AI, data privacy, cybersecurity, e-discovery and more.Read More ›