LJN Newsletters

An increasing number of state legislatures are deciding that there is a need to recycle computer components and other electronic waste, also known as "e-waste," and thus are proposing diverse laws intended to encourage or require such recycling. Equally diverse, to the point of creating conflicts and confusion, are the ways in which the various state legislatures propose to raise the funds to pay for such programs. Two states, California and Maine, have enacted such legislation and, at press time, 14 states have proposed such legislation. On Jan. 1, 2005, California's law was the first to go into effect. This article describes the Equipment Leasing Association's policy on legislation requiring advanced recycling fees. The article reviews California's new e-waste law and highlights some of the concerns to the leasing industry with regard to California's law.

Patent portfolio managers face a number of logistical challenges in developing, analyzing and deploying their organizations' patent assets. First, they need to be able to define the scope and content of portfolios under management or review. Second, they need to be able to organize and store information about those portfolios in a way that is repeatable, durable, and accessible. Finally, they need to be able to aggregate and communicate that information to drive budgeting, reporting, and strategy development.

According to recent statistics, approximately 342,441 utility patent applications were filed in 2003 in the United States, and 169,028 utility patents were granted. These totals have nearly doubled over the past decade. Nonetheless, patent prosecution costs have seemed to trend lower or remain flat in recent years, even as courts are requiring more and more from application drafters. Does this prosecution revenue squeeze portend an increased economic risk for the patent practitioner? Does this pose more trouble for patent quality in general? Is a market glut of patent attorneys creating downward pressure on patent prosecution costs and resulting patent quality? Besides refusing to enter into a pricing war that is ultimately bad for our patent system, patent attorneys may wish to consider implementing changes to the patent system that help improve patent quality by reducing the recent flood of patent attorneys and agents entering the market.

Multinational companies with distributed operations and geographic centers of specialized activities tend to transfer intangibles including intellectual property assets among their various affiliates. These transfers between entities are priced at levels that approximate fair market value and are simultaneously consistent with every company's duty to maximize shareholder value. Tax authorities have long complained that multinationals are setting international transfer prices to avoid taxes by lowering income in high tax jurisdictions and raising income in low tax jurisdictions. In theory, a multinational should not suffer prejudice in such a case (beyond the payment of appropriate penalties) because international tax treaties contemplate adjustments; the underpayment would be collected and the overpayment refunded in each respective jurisdiction. As a practical matter however, there is a real risk of double taxation since sovereign tax authorities may come to disagree on transfer pricing levels.

Section 261 of the Patent Act (35 U.S.C. §261) contemplates that a patent may be assigned as opposed to licensed. But often the two cannot be so easily distinguished. In practice, the difference between a grant of rights in a patent qualifying as an assignment, an exclusive license or a nonexclusive license often turns on the patentee's granting or withholding of a single right. Yet very different consequences flow from each of those designations.

Our reporter attends the Supreme Court oral argument on Arthur Andersen.

Recent rulings you need to know.

National cases of interest to you and your practice.