For Bally Total Fitness, Timing Is Everything in Franchising Decision
August 31, 2006
Bally Total Fitness is one of the most recognized brands in the U.S. fitness industry and the largest purchaser of fitness equipment in the country. The company spends $55 million annually on marketing and media support, and it offers the power of more than 40 years of business success and 20,000 employees that make the company strong ' all key components to a successful and highly sought-after franchising program. So why hasn't Bally implemented a national franchising program?
Vietnam's New Franchise Law: Momentum for Country Experiencing Strong Consumer Demand Growth
August 31, 2006
Franchising is a relatively new but rapidly developing strategy in Vietnam. Although there are currently few business franchise systems based on the traditional Western model currently operating in Vietnam, there is an increasing presence of established international franchise systems currently operating through company-owned and-managed outlets and increasing numbers of local systems, albeit at an early 'product distribution' evolutionary stage. The commercial environment for franchising is increasingly favorable: Vietnam is the fastest-growing Asian economy after China and India, and it is experiencing strong GDP growth and annual retail growth of more than 20%. There is a steady rise in disposable income, an emerging new consumer class, and increasing brand consciousness.
<b>Online Exclusive:</b> Routine Upgrade Causes Serious Breach for Education Department
August 31, 2006
A routine computer upgrade gone awry caused Social Security numbers and other identifying information for about 6.4 million people to temporarily be accessible online, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The breach was in effect for about 2 days, from the night of Aug. 20 to the morning of Aug 22, when a caller alerted the Education Department to the problem, said a spokesperson.
To Stay or Not to Stay: That Is the Re-examination Question
August 31, 2006
The <i>NTP v. RIM</i> case is the latest example of a conundrum facing defendants: how to strategize the confluence of a district court litigation and a Patent Office re-examination proceeding. A district court litigation and a patent office re-examination proceeding both provide methods for challenging the validity of a patent.
Nip Compliance Issues in the Bud
August 31, 2006
Good business practice in the e-commerce sector, as in the bricks-and-mortar world, requires that companies take steps to ensure that employees comply with company policies, as well as with the laws, rules and regulations that apply to them and their industry. An increasingly important part of that practice involves monitoring and storing electronic documents, including e-mails and their attachments, and managing these documents throughout the information lifecycle. While an electronic document may have a direct business use of only a few minutes ' perhaps to signal agreement to a contract term ' this same document may have an afterlife of many years, during which it must be retained and managed.
Legal Technology Training Needs New Approach
August 31, 2006
Software trainers find the need for computer training never-ending. In many firms, including law firms that advise e-commerce counsel, training programs abound, but users don't seem to be gaining ground fast enough to master the array of desktop applications.
FTC Signs Off on Internet Legal Referrals
August 31, 2006
It may not be a match made in heaven, but Internet legal-referral services that promise to match lawyers with potential clients have a powerful new admirer ' the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
e-Commerce Contracts: Boilerplate or Common Sense?
August 31, 2006
Do clients actually read the contracts that lawyers write? Even if your carefully drafted documents are read, do you ever feel that they don't make a difference in how decisions are made, or cases get decided? To paraphrase the Miranda warning immortalized by Sgt. Joe Friday and a long line of TV police officers, sometimes the contract you write can and will be used against you in a court of law ' as happened to a company that tried to enforce a boilerplate rule against a former employee that even its own executives didn't follow.
