Features

The Supreme Court recently changed the longstanding rules for obtaining a permanent injunction in patent infringement cases. <i>eBay Inc. v. MercExchange LLC</i>, 126 S.Ct. 1837 (2006). Prior to the Supreme Court's ruling in eBay, it was generally accepted that a successful plaintiff in a patent infringement trial was entitled to a permanent injunction virtually automatically. The Federal Circuit's rule was 'courts will issue permanent injunctions against patent infringement absent exceptional circumstances.' The few exceptions to this rule were generally limited to situations where public health would be affected by enjoining the infringer.

A new Federal Circuit case has fundamentally changed the standards for declaratory judgment actions, making it much easier for companies concerned with a patent to file a suit establishing that they do not infringe the patent or that the patent is invalid. The case will have profound effects on the ways patent holders communicate with would-be licensees.

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Features

News about lawyers and law firms in the partnership arena.

Partners in law firms of all sizes and specialties now realize it is one thing to attract high-quality associates, but an even more difficult challenge to retain them. Competition for top-quality associates continues to intensify, so effective associate retention is more important than ever.

During the past year, we witnessed a marked increase in the number of law firms, both large and small, which are finding that their existing unfunded retirement plans are becoming significant, disruptive forces. The underlying problem created by these plans is that the plans result in current income being diverted to former partners, thereby reducing the compensation of the remaining active partners. Today, the combination of an expected spike in retirements related to the baby boom generation and, for many firms, greatly increased benefit exposure due to sharp increases in firm profitability that is factored into the value of retiree benefits, stand ready to test the financial viability of even the strongest firms.

In the first half of this decade, a series of events wreaked havoc on pension plans. Enron and other major corporations collapsed with the result that employees and other investors lost billions of dollars in savings, including in many cases significant pension investments. Sept. 11 accelerated and deepened the fall of the financial markets. Lower securities prices, coupled with low interest rates, resulted in modest investment returns and increased funding obligations for sponsors of traditional defined benefit plans. In turn, major legacy air carriers and other historical industry leaders struggled (sometimes without success) to avoid bankruptcy. In response to these and other upheavals, Congress enacted the Pension Protection Act ('PPA') on Aug. 17, 2006, only three weeks after its introduction in the House of Representatives, in an effort to reform outdated aspects of federal pension laws and to provide greater stability and overall protection to pension plan members.

Features

In-depth analysis of the latest rulings.