Features
Feeling Left Out: The Debate over Insurer Participation in Prepackaged Bankruptcy Plans
In recent years, an increasing number of companies have sought to resolve current and future liability for long-tail exposures, such as asbestos or silica, by filing prepackaged bankruptcy cases. These bankruptcy filings raise numerous insurance-related issues.
Features
Case Briefs
Highlights of the latest insurance cases from around the country.
Firms Seek Successful Patent (Non) Litigation
For emerging technology companies, a product that produces revenues is the lifeblood and should be protected at all costs. But when it comes to patent litigation, all but the largest technology companies should avoid the mind-set that they are suing to a conclusion, as either plaintiff or defendant. The objective is to make a reasonable intellectual property deal, sooner rather than later, and focus on competition in the marketplace — not the courtroom.
It Lives for 29 Years? Authorities Should Act to Ensure a Predictable and Reasonable Patent Term for Pre-GATT Applications
A lawsuit filed April 11 in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles has grabbed the attention of the life sciences community. The key parties are three high-profile biotech developers: MedImmune, Genentech and Celltech.
Features
Law Departments Cut Costs by Sending Patent Work Abroad
Cheap foreign labor has long been a frightening specter for some American industries. But these days, garment makers and steelworkers are not the only ones competing with lower-paid counterparts abroad. Spurred by the slow economy, many in-house legal departments are cutting costs by relying less on U.S. outside counsel and more on lawyers in India, New Zealand, South Korea, and other countries where professional salaries are lower.
In Pursuit of Patents
There is little doubt that protecting one's intellectual property is important for businesses both large and small. Statistically, 60% of the market valuation of the average industrial corporation is based on its intellectual property and that figure rises to 80% for high-tech companies. Patents make up a large slice of the intellectual property pie in any technology-driven company. Filing a patent, however, is not the end of protecting your technology. Indeed, it is just the beginning. A key ingredient to the success of any technology-based company lies in effectively managing its patent portfolio. One important and often overlooked aspect of managing your patent portfolio is patent tracking.
Features
Book Review and Commentary: Patenting in an Era of 'Open Innovation'
Open Innovation" by Henry Chesbrough. Harvard Business School Press (2003). 225 pp.In "Open Innovation," Henry Chesbrough proposes that a fundamental change is taking place in the business of innovation — a traditional closed innovation model is being supplanted by an emerging open innovation one. The closed innovation archetype was the isolated corporate research center that sought to single-handedly develop, commercialize, and dominate an emerging technology. Open innovation is heralded by companies that combine their internal capabilities with an awareness of the innovation marketplace and a willingness to license, acquire, and collaborate to maximize the speed and impact of innovation. The author opines that companies that continue to rely on closed innovation cannot compete against the new breed of open innovators.
Attorney Fees Update
Depending on the circumstances and the law, parties on either side of an entertainment suit may ask a court for an award of attorney fees. Following are court rulings from recent months that deal with this and related concerns. In this and future issues, <i>Entertainment Law & Finance</i> will report on such relevant rulings in Attorney-Fee Updates.
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