Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn signed the Main Street Fairness Act into law to collect sales tax revenues from a retail market traditionally beyond the states' reach ' the world of online commerce ' by focusing on the role of local online marketing affiliates. But the measure has been harshly criticized by online merchants who contend it is an unconstitutional intrusion on interstate commerce, and by policy analysts who question its ability to raise tax revenues.
The same technology that provides the means for customers in various market sectors to truly interact with merchants also allows a similar force multiplication for Internet criminals, including charlatans and other rogues who prey on some of the most vulnerable among us ' the elderly.
The prospect of "free" software, through the open source movement, seems like a CFO's dream come true. After all, why shouldn't a firm get a critical asset at no cost? In other words, why pay a monthly licensing or maintenance fee when something that appears to work well can possibly be had at no cost online? Unfortunately, the real world has taught us all that "free" can be very expensive.
The Cuban trade embargo has been at issue for more than a decade in the long-running case between Bacardi and Pernod Ricard over the U.S. rights to the HAVANA CLUB trademark for rum.
On April 20, 2011, the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in the <i>TiVo Inc. v. EchoStar Corp.</i> case. No. 2009-1374 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 20, 2011). The decision marks a sea change for evaluating contempt of an injunction in a patent case, significantly limiting an infringer's ability to challenge an injunction on the grounds that it is vague or overbroad.
Responding 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.
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
In 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?
