Features

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon struck down Federal Reserve regulations on debit-card transaction fees on July 31, a victory for retailers that process high numbers of low-ticket transactions. Leon found that the Fed adopted rules that "inappropriately" inflated fees by billions of dollars.

Columns & Departments

Franchise Relationship Law Tabled in CA Assembly <br>New Franchise-Relationship Bill Proposed in PA

The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has the authority to stop unfair trade practices, including the importation of products found to infringe a valid U.S. patent. But does that authority automatically extend to downstream products incorporating a relatively insignificant infringing component ' such as an automobile that happens to include an infringing light-emitting diode? And is the ITC required to balance the parties' interests and consider factors such as the value of an infringing component compared to the overall value of the imported downstream product?

Features

President Barack Obama's administration has drafted a potential recipe for sweetening its voluntary corporate cybersecurity program. The program is under development at the White House and is aimed at utility companies and other businesses that are key to U.S. infrastructure.

Features

This article discusses several contemporary privacy issues, including: whether accidental access to another's e-mail account constitutes unauthorized computer access; whether the use of a fictitious online identity can lead to civil liability; and whether the account holder of an unsecured home Wi-Fi network can be found liable for infringing activities by third parties using the network.

Features

In order to deal with an expanding Internet, brand owners need to understand how to use a variety of tools to handle the different brand protection and legal challenges that will be presented. For brand owners looking at the New gTLD space, formulating a trademark protection strategy should be viewed as an important tool on an entire tool belt of protection strategies that together can be used as a comprehensive plan.

Features

It may be a while before Kathleen Moriarty lets clients pay her in bitcoin, but the Katten Muchin Rosenman partner is doing her part to help legitimize the digital currency derided as speculative and risky by some prominent economists.

Features

Every franchise system chief executive encounters situations in which a franchisee has a good reason for not complying with a rule, or in which the infraction is fairly minor. But how can a franchisor be sure about where to draw the line and how strictly to enforce the rules that are set out in the franchise agreement or operations manual?