A straightforward reading of the existing on-sale bar law suggests that companies and inventors, particularly in the software industry, may be unwittingly putting their inventions on sale by agreeing to deliver future improvements or versions of their product to their customers. This is a consequence of the initially counterintuitive principle that an invention may be put on sale by a contract or offer made before the invention even exists. This principle will often apply in the context of 'upgrade' contracts, where a seller contracts, at the time of a sale, to provide future 'upgrades' to a product. In that situation, the seller's pre-existing obligation to provide the invention as an 'upgrade' can put the invention on sale, even though the obligation arose before the invention was conceived.
- April 28, 2006Nicholas A. Brown
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
April 28, 2006Genevieve A. BeckPizza Hut's largest U.S. franchisee, NPC International, settled a complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act ('ADA') on March 28 that will result in extensive remedial work at many of NPC's 775 franchised restaurants. Under the agreement, NPC will ensure proper accessibility of all of its Pizza Hut properties for parking lots, entrances, seating areas, bathrooms, self-service counters, and other spaces and elements. It will also survey and evaluate all NPC-owned facilities that are subject to the ADA's more stringent new construction and alterations standards at the time of their construction or alteration, bring them into full compliance, and incorporate training of personnel and store managers for future compliance.
April 28, 2006Kevin AdlerIn this Q&A, FBLA talks with Robert Boulter and Ryan Knoll, the founders of FranchisePundit.com, a blog and discussion forum that covers business and legal issues in franchising. Since its inception in April 2005, visitor traffic to Franchise Pundit (www.franchisepundit.com) has grown exponentially, as franchisees, prospective franchisees, and franchisors read and respond to its no-nonsense, practical advice and observations.
April 28, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |If professional development has not found its way into a lawyer's practice and values, compliance with state CLE requirements is forcing a change. A growing number of states call upon lawyers to report their professional development activities and some states require stress management, substance abuse, or ethics education, as well as learning in a substantive area of law. There are also lessons from the larger firms: professional development is good for business and commonly used to market the firm's expertise.
April 28, 2006Robert ClaymanA former employee of scandal-plagued software giant Computer Associates, who claims she was fired for cooperating with an internal investigation, may sue the law firm hired by the company to represent her for legal malpractice based on alleged conflicts of interest, a Long Island judge has ruled.
April 28, 2006Anthony LinConsumers are growing more sensitive about the privacy of their financial information, and franchisors are no different than other businesses needing to become more attentive to protecting customer data. 'Information privacy and security is one of the most fast-paced and constantly changing areas of the law today,' stated Kirk Nahra, chair, Wiley Rein & Fielding's privacy practice, in a conference call on April 20, targeted specifically to the privacy challenges that franchises face.
April 28, 2006Kevin AdlerThis article provides an update on the protection of an individual retirement account (IRA) from creditors after the passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (the Act). In general, the Act, which took effect on Oct. 17, 2005, expands the bankruptcy protections previously available for a debtor's 'ERISA-qualified' retirement funds.
April 28, 2006Marcia WagnerAs a signatory to the Statement of Principal, Wal-Mart actively promotes diversity within its approximately 500 law firms. Following the Statement's approach, we have informed our law firms of the importance of diversity to our business and our desire that the attorneys representing the Company more closely reflect the customers and communities we serve. We have communicated to our firms that we expect them to promote a diverse workplace and have encouraged them to staff our files with more women and minority attorneys. Finally, we have told our firms that we would give significant consideration to a firm's demonstrated diversity commitment when selecting new counsel.
Unfortunately, a review of the diversity statistics of our law firms produced disappointing results.April 28, 2006Sam Reeves