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Features

Event Strategy: Ensuring Maximum ROI Image

Event Strategy: Ensuring Maximum ROI

Olivia Fox Cabane

You probably have much less time than you wish you had to "do your networking", so you might as well make the most of it. To ensure maximum return on investment for each event you attend, you'll need to carefully decide which events to attend, how to prepare for them, whom to go with, how to approach people and even what to wear.

News Briefs Image

News Briefs

Mark Abell & Victoria Ford

Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.

Features

Court Watch Image

Court Watch

Darryl A. Hart, Charles G. Miller, & Griffith C. Towle

Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.

Should You Make an Earnings Claim? Image

Should You Make an Earnings Claim?

Lee R. Dickinson

If there is one question in the minds and on the lips of potential franchisees, it is "How much money can I make with this concept?" Franchisors may answer this question, of course, but with great care and consideration as to what, how, and when they answer it.

Features

Tax Nexus Update for Franchisors Image

Tax Nexus Update for Franchisors

Bruce S. Schaeffer

Franchisors thinking of expanding into new jurisdictions, and even those that are not changing anything, should be wary. State and local governments, in this time of deficits, are constantly looking for ways to increase their revenues by broadening the scope of their taxes.

Pros and Cons of Drafting Patent Applications in India Image

Pros and Cons of Drafting Patent Applications in India

Jonathan P. Osha

A call center in New Delhi, India, fields questions from a utility customer in a small town in Pennsylvania. An accounting firm in Mumbai, India, provides back-office services for a growing Texas company. An IT company in Perumbavoor, India, provides Internet support to a manufacturer of amplifiers in Washington state.

Technology Potency: Patent Citation Refinements for Merger and Acquisition or Joint Venture Analysis Image

Technology Potency: Patent Citation Refinements for Merger and Acquisition or Joint Venture Analysis

Erin-Michael Gill

The real value of a possible acquisition or joint venture partner is often in the potential of their next invention. As advisers, patent managers, and intellectual asset strategists, it is critical that the methodology and tools used for assessing patent quality accurately reflect a would-be ally's technological potency.

Getting to Know Means-Plus-Function Claims: Does 'Means' Always Mean 'Means'? Image

Getting to Know Means-Plus-Function Claims: Does 'Means' Always Mean 'Means'?

Paul A. Ragusa & Noera Ayaz

Means-plus-function claims are a controversial part of claim drafting. On one hand, patent practitioners face the dilemma of whether or not to use such claims in an application, as they may narrow the scope of the patent protection through their dependence on what is described in the specification. On the other hand, such claims may be a complete, simple and elegant way to claim an invention that uses various types of a certain limitation, as in the software field. If a patent practitioner does decide to use means-plus-function claims, he or she should be aware that using the term "means" does not always mean that the claim is a means-plus-function claim. Likewise, the lack of the term "means" does not always mean that a claim is not in means-plus-function form, as exemplified in the recent case law discussed below.

The Advantages of Litigating Patent Infringement Lawsuits in the ITC Image

The Advantages of Litigating Patent Infringement Lawsuits in the ITC

Peter J. Toren

Many American companies have become increasingly frustrated at what they perceive as the lack of respect for intellectual property rights by foreign countries. While this situation is likely to improve with time as countries such as China and India realize that the protection of intellectual property rights can be an engine for growth, in the short run, U.S. companies should consider whether they are doing enough to prevent the importation of products that were manufactured overseas and that may infringe U.S. patents. Most IP practitioners are certainly aware that U.S. patent owners may sue a foreign manufacturer in federal district court in the United States for patent infringement and can seek damages and an injunction against the further importation of the infringing products. Many IP practitioners may not be familiar, however, with Section 337 investigations that are conducted by the International Trade Commission ("ITC"). This avenue provides a relatively quick remedy against foreign infringers and may offer significant advantages over traditional litigation in federal court.

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In The Marketplace

ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.

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