Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.

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On the strength of a substantial body of real-world experience with arbitration as a dispute-resolution norm, many franchisors are asking whether their dogged pursuit of arbitration was actually a mistake.

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For franchisors who do business consistent with a few critical (and largely common-sense) rules, freedom from excessive lawsuits and from truly damaging litigation results is not out of reach.

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Reverse engineering of competitor products has always played a large and important role in any successful assertive patent licensing program. However, new developments in the patent licensing arena are making reverse engineering much more vital and often necessary for any company seeking to capitalize on its intellectual property assets.

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The track to the CEO's office has changed as the key determinants of competitive advantage have changed. Over the past few years, sales, marketing, engineering, and most recently, finance have serially been the corporate lines through which proto-CEOs have risen through the ranks. With intangibles now providing the competitive advantage, perhaps the next trend in CEO-spotting will take place in the IP suite.

This article examines <i>Hakim v. Cannon Avent Group</i>, which arguably expands the law on claim scope disclaimers. Thus, based on <i>Hakim</i>, when filing an RCE or continuation to broaden claims, care must be taken to ensure that any possible disavowal is unequivocally rescinded. Succinctly asking the examiner to reconsider prior art and noting that the current amendments broaden the claims, after a clear disavowal of claim scope is present, may not always be enough.

This article examines four recent Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit cases that shed light on the CAFC's current inequitable conduct jurisprudence and provide insight into how certain conduct may be interpreted by the court today.

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Epstein Becker &amp; Green (New York): Steven Skwara and Robert Penezic join the health care and life sciences practice as partner and as senior counsel, respectively. Skwara was at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, serving as associate general counsel and as director, fraud investigation and prevention. Penezic was at Broad and Cassel's Fort Lauderdale, FL, office. &#133;