Features

Migrating Businesses Help Grow South Florida CRE Market Despite, and Because of, the Pandemic
The South Florida office market has seen a shift due to COVID, with some downsizing and modifications of office buildings, but the influx of new potential tenants has helped mitigate any potential downsides other markets may have seen.
Columns & Departments
Upcoming Event
TexasBarCLE 31st Annual Entertainment Law Institute and Entertainment Law 101 Program, Nov. 17-19.
Features

How Many Is Too Many? Billable Hours Can Reach Diminishing Returns
By now, it is well known that this year has been defined, at least in part, by the furious pace at which lawyers have been working. At what point do high billable hours mean diminishing returns for both the lawyer and the firm?
Features

Van Buren Continues Supreme Court's Pattern of Statutory Interpretation to Avoid Criminalizing Trivial Acts
The Van Buren decision fits into a pattern of the court's modern criminal law jurisprudence that appears motivated by concerns about the ever-expanding reach and severity of federal criminal law.
Features

Slut-Shamed In the Workplace? Avoiding Exposure for Your Employees' Exposure
Situations involving an employee's voluntary online exposure rarely end well and can bring legal exposure for the employer.
Features

California Federal Court Sorts Out Ownership Issues In Dispute Over Record Albums
Approval of all the co-owners of a copyrighted work is needed to grant exclusive rights to third parties. Despite that, any co-owner can sell that co-owner's exclusive ownership share to third parties without the permission of the others The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California recently released an opinion that considered the interplay of these copyright issues.
Features

How to Address Evolving Privacy Regulations During Discovery
One Recipe for Success: Treat Private Data With the Same Priority Given to Privilege But for all the coverage that privacy regulations are meant to provide, there is precious little guidance about how to protect private information, and there is very little legal precedent to guide our practices.
Features

Proposed Changes In UCC Address Virtual Currency Financing
Financial institutions are beginning to accept virtual currencies as collateral for financings. Could this become common for independent film productions and other entertainment industry ventures? This article examines the scope of UCC Article 9 with a focus on virtual currencies, taking into consideration issues of classification and perfection.
Features

Artificial Intelligence and Subject Matter Eligibility In U.S. Patent Office Appeals
For the foreseeable future, patent applications involving artificial intelligence technologies, including machine learning, will increase with the continued proliferation of such technologies. However, subject matter eligibility can be a significant challenge in securing patents on artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Features

How NY Courts Find Copyright Preemption of State Law Right of Publicity Claims
To survive preemption under §301 of the Copyright Act, courts consider whether a state law claim in a lawsuit has an "extra element" that qualitatively distinguishes it from a federal copyright claim. Courts typically find that state law claims, such as breach of contract, have an extra element. Other state law claims, such as conversion, get varying court determinations as to whether they are preempted.
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
- Second Circuit Rejects Arbitration of Debtor's Asserted Discharge ViolationA bankruptcy court properly denied a bank's motion to compel arbitration of a debtor's asserted violation of the court's discharge injunction, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held.Read More ›
- Reining in the Inequitable Conduct DefenseResponding to views from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and elsewhere about the unintended consequences of the current inequitable conduct doctrine, a divided <i>en banc</i> Federal Circuit decision issued on May 25, 2011 adjusted the standard of the materiality element to make this defense harder to establish.Read More ›
- 'Customary Operations' or A Vacant Building?Many times, courts are faced with the question of whether a loss location is 'vacant' under a commercial property policy when trying to determine if the building owner or lessee is conducting customary operations. This article explores various decisions across the United States as to what is considered 'customary operations,' thereby rendering the property 'vacant.'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 ›
- Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTsA federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.Read More ›