Features

Design Patent Damage Awards
<b><i>Rotten for Apple</b></i><p>On Dec. 6, 2017, the United States Supreme Court, hearing its first design patent case in over 120 years, unanimously threw away a $400 million award that Apple won against Samsung Electronics. In doing so, the justices interpreted an 1887 statute providing that it is unlawful to manufacture or sell an "article of manufacture" that a patented design or colorable imitation has been applied.
Features

HVCRE Regulations
<b><i>Greater Clarity Needed</b></i><p>The new HVCRE rules require banks to assign a 150% risk weight to any HVCRE exposure (up from the 100% risk weight assigned under general risk-based capital rules) and cover all acquisition, development or construction (ADC) loans unless an exception applies.
Features

General Counsel Pay Just Keeps Rising
Compensation for in-house counsel is up across the board, ranging from 3.7% to as much as 6% at some general counsel and expert counsel levels, according to recently released data from HBR Consulting's 2016 Law Department Survey.
Columns & Departments
Verdicts
What will happen to the Affordable Care Act now that President-Elect Trump has vowed to abolish it?
Features

Why the DMCA Needs to Be Modernized
It has been 18 years since the DMCA was signed into law. It was created to balance the security and rights of copyright holders with the growing influence of digital communications. But today it is facing serious criticism about its usefulness from every key stakeholder — creators, distributors and consumers alike.
Features

<b><i>Online Extra</b></i><br>Financial Industry Groups Slam NY's Proposed Cybersecurity Rules
Major banking and insurance industry groups are attacking New York's proposed regulation requiring member companies to adopt stringent protections against cyberattacks that compromise consumers' confidential information.
Features

Law Firms, Meet Your New Regulator: Your Clients
While major banks, retailers, hospitals and insurance companies were the brick and mortar of a growing media monument to hubris and cyber overconfidence, law firm breaches went mostly unnoticed. That is, until government agencies and law enforcement grew concerned that the wealth of intellectual property curated by law firms could be used to manipulate financial markets by front running trades.
Features

Release of Pineland Development Restrictions Invalidated
Once Suffolk County pays a landowner to acquire Pineland Development Rights, can the county give some of those rights back to the landowner, without even requiring the landowner to pay for them?
Features

Government Agencies Take Aim at Employment-Related Agreements
The SEC's and DOL's scrutiny of severance agreements follow earlier scrutiny by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and other government agencies. These developments provide an urgency for company counsel to bring their employment agreements and policies into compliance.
Features

Seizure Issues To Consider in Federal Trade Secrets Act
Both before and after the passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) in May 2016, which created a federal civil cause of action for trade secrets misappropriation, much ink was spilled over the controversial “seizure” provision.
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