Features

Right Out of the Box: California Enacts First-of-its-Kind Statute Regulating Internet-of-Things
<b><i>Companies Impacted By California's SB-327 — Especially Manufacturers and Distributors of IoT Devices — Should Work to Ensure Compliance With the Act As Soon As Possible If Regulatory Fallout Is to Be Avoided Come January 2020</b></i><p>While a great deal of attention has focused on the California Consumer Privacy Act, California also passed a less-publicized, but highly critical, statute that will regulate certain aspects of Internet of Things device security.
Features

Appellate Division Complicates the Rules for Municipalities Charging Consultants' Fees
In a case addressing what consulting fees (in particular attorneys' fees) can be charged to an applicant before a Zoning Board of Appeals, the Second Department in Landstein v. Town of LaGrange found that the Town had overreached its statutory authority.
Features

How Will the Music Modernization Act's Mechanical Licensing Collective Work?
This article focuses on managing change for clients affected by the MMA's government-mandated mechanical licensing collective. In my view, far from putting songwriters on a trajectory away from the government regulation that has oppressed them for generations, the collective imposes an entirely new bureaucracy with potentially significant costs that are not readily apparent.
Features

IP Provisions in 'New NAFTA' Agreement
With Canada's agreement, the stage was set for the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to end and the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) to take its place.Among the provisions of note for the entertainment industry, copyright will receive a boost from the USMCA.
Features

Due Diligence in Distressed Community Hospitals
Many community hospitals are in distress. The causes are varied but have a constant theme — the cost to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.
Features

The Gold Rush of NJ Cannabis Leasing: Avoiding a Few Traps for the Unwary
In this ever-evolving space, where 30 states have permitted medical cannabis and nine states have permitted adult-use cannabis, there are many issues that come into play in a lease tailored to cannabis dispensing or grow facilities. This article sensitizes the reader to the notion that these types of leases are not “business as usual,” and that they have their own nuances.
Features

Computing Rent Overcharges in Light of Roberts
In Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Props, L.P., the Court of Appeals established that a landlord receiving J-51 benefits could not avail itself of the benefits of luxury deregulation.
Features

Why Do Cybersecurity Programs Fail?
It seems this should be a key question for everyone in business, government, technology, and cybersecurity: If we know the problem with cybersecurity, and have ways of methods of addressing the problem, why are we still failing?
Features

Supreme Court Forecloses Reimbursement for Certain Internal Investigations Under Mandatory Victims Restitution Act
In Lagos v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporate victims of criminal offenses cannot recover expenses incurred from internal investigations that the federal government has neither requested nor required under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996,
Features

The PTAB's New Claim Construction Standard: Will the Real Impact Please Stand Up
Beginning on Nov. 13, 2018, the USPTO will cease to apply the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) standard for newly-filed IPR, PGR, and CBM trials under the America Invents Act (AIA). Instead, the USPTO will begin "using the same claim construction standard that would be used to construe the claim in a civil action …."
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
- A Lawyer's System for Active ReadingActive reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.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 ›
- The 'Sophisticated Insured' DefenseA majority of courts consider the <i>contra proferentem</i> doctrine to be a pillar of insurance law. The doctrine requires ambiguous terms in an insurance policy to be construed against the insurer and in favor of coverage for the insured. A prominent rationale behind the doctrine is that insurance policies are usually standard-form contracts drafted entirely by insurers.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 ›
- The New York Uniform Commercial Code Comes of AgeParties in large non-consumer transactions with no connection whatsoever to New York often choose its law to govern their transactions, and New York statutes permit them to do so. What most people do not know is that the New York Uniform Commercial Code is outdated.Read More ›