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In an Oct. 25, 2005 decision, a Connecticut District Court denied an insurance company's motion to set aside a $2.3 million verdict on the plaintiff-agent's wrongful termination claim, concluding that company's relationship with its independent sales agent constituted a franchise under the Connecticut Franchise Act, §42-133e et seq. ("CFA").

In August 2005, the New York Bar Association authorized the formation of a subcommittee of the Business Law section to review, analyze, and possibly revise or rewrite the New York Franchise Act of 1980 to better reflect the current franchising landscape. The subcommittee has held several meetings and is soliciting input from all interested parties. In this interview, Thomas M. Pitegoff (White Plains, NY) discusses the initial goals of the subcommittee, its progress to date, and its continued interest in receiving comments from franchisors, franchisees, and their representatives, and others who may be affected by the New York franchise law.

This is the first of a two-part article. This installment discusses the implications of different foreign filing strategies for establishing a priority date under 35 U.S.C. §102(e). Next month's installment will discuss recommendations for foreign applicants filing in the United States and the situation under the European Patent Convention.

The reach of U.S. influence on the world is undeniable, and the Federal Circuit in the past few months has done nothing to shrink from that expansion.

Until recently, U.S. software companies comfortably operated under the assumption that selling software that was copied from a "golden master" CD outside of the United States, and which was sold only to customers outside of the United States, did not infringe U.S. patents. Recent developments in the law have destroyed that comfort and made clear that infringement liability may very well lie for exactly those types of foreign sales.

Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.

If you're looking for articles pertaining to product liability litigation, the Rand Institute for Civil Justice ("ICJ") has a Web site that lists and summarizes a variety of articles that are available for purchase or for free. Go to www.rand.org/icj/pubs and click on "Product Liability."

Until 1997, when the Supreme Court decided General Electric v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136, (1997), I had never heard of the term ipse dixit. Now, almost every month I read a decision in which that phrase appears. Ipse, in Latin, is "he himself"; dixit, "to say." Its dictionary meaning is "an unsupported assertion, usually by a person of standing."