Building and Sustaining a Marketing and Sales Culture at Your Law Firm
Getting lawyers and law firms do things differently is not an easy task and instilling a marketing mindset among lawyers is a major effort for most firms, resembling the proverbial challenge of "herding cats." <br>However, the most profitable firms are moving closer to a corporate model of governance, with institutional goals, strong leadership and streamlined governance. They are also starting to embrace marketing, recognizing the need to get closer to existing clients and invest time and resources on focused, proactive strategies to go after new ones.
Event Strategy: Ensuring Maximum ROI
You probably have much less time than you wish you had to "do your networking", so you might as well make the most of it. To ensure maximum return on investment for each event you attend, you'll need to carefully decide which events to attend, how to prepare for them, whom to go with, how to approach people and even what to wear.
Court Watch
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
News Briefs
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
Should You Make an Earnings Claim?
If there is one question in the minds and on the lips of potential franchisees, it is "How much money can I make with this concept?" Franchisors may answer this question, of course, but with great care and consideration as to what, how, and when they answer it.
Tax Nexus Update for Franchisors
Franchisors thinking of expanding into new jurisdictions, and even those that are not changing anything, should be wary. State and local governments, in this time of deficits, are constantly looking for ways to increase their revenues by broadening the scope of their taxes.
Pros and Cons of Drafting Patent Applications in India
A call center in New Delhi, India, fields questions from a utility customer in a small town in Pennsylvania. An accounting firm in Mumbai, India, provides back-office services for a growing Texas company. An IT company in Perumbavoor, India, provides Internet support to a manufacturer of amplifiers in Washington state.
Getting to Know Means-Plus-Function Claims: Does 'Means' Always Mean 'Means'?
Means-plus-function claims are a controversial part of claim drafting. On one hand, patent practitioners face the dilemma of whether or not to use such claims in an application, as they may narrow the scope of the patent protection through their dependence on what is described in the specification. On the other hand, such claims may be a complete, simple and elegant way to claim an invention that uses various types of a certain limitation, as in the software field. If a patent practitioner does decide to use means-plus-function claims, he or she should be aware that using the term "means" does not always mean that the claim is a means-plus-function claim. Likewise, the lack of the term "means" does not always mean that a claim is not in means-plus-function form, as exemplified in the recent case law discussed below.
The Advantages of Litigating Patent Infringement Lawsuits in the ITC
Many American companies have become increasingly frustrated at what they perceive as the lack of respect for intellectual property rights by foreign countries. While this situation is likely to improve with time as countries such as China and India realize that the protection of intellectual property rights can be an engine for growth, in the short run, U.S. companies should consider whether they are doing enough to prevent the importation of products that were manufactured overseas and that may infringe U.S. patents. Most IP practitioners are certainly aware that U.S. patent owners may sue a foreign manufacturer in federal district court in the United States for patent infringement and can seek damages and an injunction against the further importation of the infringing products. Many IP practitioners may not be familiar, however, with Section 337 investigations that are conducted by the International Trade Commission ("ITC"). This avenue provides a relatively quick remedy against foreign infringers and may offer significant advantages over traditional litigation in federal court.
