Features
The Changed Landscape: Introduction
As franchise lawyers, we see hundreds of cases a year that impact our practice. Many are very important "bread and butter" cases, such as state court opinions dealing with parol evidence and integration clauses and federal cases involving trademark infringement. These are important cases that every franchise lawyer should know because they help in the day-to-day battles. Far more interesting to us, and we would imagine to most franchise attorneys, are the big cases that have happened maybe once or twice a year over the past 10 years that have made everyone wonder, "What in the world is going on?" We have selected 10 such cases that were decided in the past 10 years, made a substantial impact on franchise law, and have made most of the franchisor and franchisee legal community take a good, hard look at how to do business in the future. These are 10 cases that, at least at the time they were decided, changed the landscape for franchise attorneys and their clients.
Features
Court Watch
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Features
Franchise Litigation: 10 Cases That Changed the Landscape in the Past Decade
<i>Armstrong Business Services, Inc., et al., Appellants v. H & R Block, et al.,</i> Bus. Franchise Guide (CCH) '12,485, 96 S.W.3d 867 (Mo. App. 2002). The Armstrong case involved H&R Block franchisees who sued their franchisor for, among other things, encroaching upon the franchisees' territories through the franchisor's Internet business. H&R Block then filed a counterclaim, alleging that all of the franchisees' franchise agreements were terminable at will by Block.
News Briefs
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
e-Commerce Docket Sheet
Recent cases in e-commerce law and in the e-commerce industry.
Protecting Internet Communications
Law firms use Internet technology to communicate in ways that were not possible 10 years ago. <br>This boon in client-to-counsel and internal firm communications has allowed lawyers to share information as never before. But, more important, the technology associated with the Internet allows law firms direct control over Net communications because they own the individual networks that allow information to be shared, a situation that brings increased liability for copyright infringement, unless firms comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The good news for practitioners is that compliance requires little investment of time or money. Similarly, e-mail protection is readily available at little or no additional cost.
Features
Markmatching: A Legal Primer On Using Trademarks For Contextual Advertising
Consider this tempting business scenario: Your e-commerce marketing manager has a new, and effective, method to drive traffic to the company Web site ' purchase your competitors' trademarks as keywords to match Internet users' searches to a "sponsor" listing for your company. The sweet spot of the proposal is that as a sponsor, your listing will appear before all other relevant search results. That will give your company an advantage over competitors. <br>So, do you tell your manager to purchase third-party trademarks as keywords? And how have the courts dealt with this situation in this country and abroad? Most important in advising e-commerce clients, though, is this consideration: How can you reduce risks associated with buying third-party trademarks as keywords?
Features
The Tax Collector e-Cometh?
Collecting taxes from remote sellers has long plagued tax collectors ' in fact, since well before e-commerce of any kind came onto the scene. On the seller side, everyone ' catalog and mail-order merchants, as well as e-commerce sites ' would all welcome relief from managing the rules of more than 7,500 taxing jurisdictions. <br>Many years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked states from requiring sellers to collect and turn over sales tax, unless the seller has sufficient in-state presence. But e-commerce has called new and very visible attention to the problem.
Features
Executive Compensation: Are You In Compliance?
What does the in-house lawyer need to be doing today to be prepared for the upcoming Proxy Statement season and to ensure that his client's deferred compensation plans and agreements are in compliance with (or exempt, <i>ie</i>, grandfathered, from) IRC '409A?
Litigation Update: Supercharging Legacy Databases
Corporations and law firms who manage large ongoing and mission-critical litigation, such as toxic tort or products liability cases, are supercharging the databases they rely on to track and manage the facts and documents in those cases. They are adding full text and linguistic pattern searching capabilities to enable them to gain better command and mastery of the facts and the documents in the case. It is, after all, difficult to have command and mastery of facts or documents you can't find, or to see relationships or patterns in documents you've never before reviewed as a group. Not only are the new databases more effective, but the costs of supercharging them are often offset by savings from avoiding the ongoing costs of the legacy databases.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the RoughThere is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.Read More ›
- Removing Restrictive Covenants In New YorkIn Rockwell v. Despart, the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently revisited a recurring question: When may a landowner seek judicial removal of a covenant restricting use of her land?Read More ›
- Professional Development: How to Be An Ally In the Legal ProfessionLast year law firms sent out announcements about their commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts in response to racial tensions. One of the initiatives firms stated they implemented is a formal allyship program. However, allyship in not a program or a mindset. It is a verb.Read More ›
- Digital Dibs: Rival Views of Generative AI CopyrightsGAI platforms like ChatGPT and OpenAI often require very little human input, shattering this legal landscape's framework by posing a simple question: Who authored the material? We'll explore how two countries are answering this question in different ways.Read More ›
- The Brave New World of Cybersecurity Due Diligence in Mergers and Acquisitions: Pitfalls and OpportunitiesLike poorly-behaved school children, new technologies and intellectual property (IP) are increasingly disrupting the M&A establishment. Cybersecurity has become the latest disruptive newcomer to the M&A party.Read More ›