Five Steps to Managing Social Media Risks
January 29, 2010
On the one hand, companies want to capture the attention of potential customers roaming the social media space. On the other hand, conversations in the blogosphere are largely uncontrollable, and raise a myriad of risks. Social media can cause serious losses if not handled correctly.
Third Circuit Tackles Teen 'Sexting' As Child Pornography
January 29, 2010
As the nation's first case involving criminal prosecutions of teenagers for "sexting" made its way to a federal appeals court in Philadelphia, all three judges seemed skeptical of the prosecutor's claim that child pornography laws are violated when a teen transmits a nude image of herself.
Google Your Case
January 29, 2010
With Google in command of my e-mail platform, my blogging platform, my search platform, my RSS reader, my photo-storage platform, and even my document collaboration platform, I certainly should be worried that Google could become the Big Brother I never wanted. Even so, I am lulled into complacency by the simple fact that Google does what it does so well. So it is with Google's entry into case law research, with its recent announcement that Google Scholar now allows users to search full-text legal opinions from U.S. federal and state appellate and trial courts.
Protecting Trademarks in Web 2.0
January 29, 2010
Although the Internet has presented a new frontier for both trademark use and infringement, the growth of social media sites during the past few years has posed particular challenges for brand owners.
Guidelines for Starting an IP Practice in China
January 29, 2010
As more multinational companies turn their attention to, sell products to and open offices in China, intellectual property work will continue to skyrocket. How are international law firms responding? What are the barriers, if any, to entry? What are the best ways to set up an IP practice in China? This article answers those questions and provides a basic roadmap if you are contemplating entering this market.
Registering Marks As Top-Level Domain Names
January 28, 2010
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") plans to issue generic top-level domain names ("gTLDs") beyond the current 21 top-level domain names ("TLDs") such as .com and .net. For the first time, trademark owners may use their marks as gTLDs; for example, .nike. The application process is complex, and trademark owners have no guarantee that they will secure gTLDs for their marks. e-Commerce providers, however, can use trademark-law strategy to gain advantages during the application process.
Protection of Underage Internet Users Has an Impact on e-Commerce
January 28, 2010
For the most part, courts do not allow either technological or statutory limitations on speech, but they do allow such limitations on electronic commerce, which causes, at the least, more steps to complete a transaction online to meet compliance requirements.
e-Getting Your Back
January 28, 2010
Science tells us that most of an iceberg is hidden beneath the surface of the ocean. e-Commerce law tells us the same thing about Web-site development: The "Web front" that shoppers see can be dwarfed by the hidden, or invisible, "back office" ' the contracts, negotiations and software that make e-commerce Web sites possible. Yet it is that back office that can be the difference between a profitable site and one, like a true iceberg, that is merely adrift and fraught with potential hazards.
Selected Privilege Issues for Franchise Counsel
January 28, 2010
As recent litigation has demonstrated, the use of new communications devices with new capabilities is having an effect on how attorneys and their clients communicate, and, therefore, is raising issues in attorney-client privilege.
Braving Tempestuous Times
January 28, 2010
Hell-or-high-water" protection has long been considered a commercial necessity to ensure the free flow of equipment lease financing and now, bolstered by recent changes to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), it has been extended to accounts receivable financing of goods and services.
