The New Patent Venue Regime
Venue in patent cases lies "in the judicial district where the defendant resides, or where the defendant has committed acts of infringement and has a regular and established place of business." Since 1990, the Federal Circuit interpreted the term "resides" coextensively with the general venue statute such that patent venue lay where the defendant was subject to personal jurisdiction. But this year, the Supreme Court greatly narrowed that definition in <i>TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods</i>. The Federal Circuit, in turn, interpreted the newly-relevant alternative phrase. After two decades of relaxed patent venue rules, these decisions work a seismic shift in patent litigation.
The Food Safety Modernization Act
<b><i>Part One of a Two-Part Article</i></b><p>By being proactive in adopting safe food processing operations, such companies hope to protect their reputation and business from the negative publicity and possible financial disaster arising from the sale of contaminated food and non-compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Social Media: Questions of Admissibility and Ethics
<b><i>Part One of a Two-Part Article</i></b><p>This two-part article is divided into three sections: 1) Social media, defined; 2) Examples of how social media has been used in family law cases; and 3) Ethical considerations for attorneys who gather social media evidence.
<b><i>Leadership:</i></b> Never Lose Heart: Appreciating the Human
<b><i>The Impact of What We Do as Marketers and Lawyers</b></i><p>Sometimes the legal profession can seem to be too much about money and the chase thereof. So, maybe it is time to talk more about the human impact of what we do — we almost never talk about what could arguably be the most important aspect of our professional lives: How what we do as professionals impacts the lives of real people, in meaningful ways.
Reflections on the Life Partners Holding Inc. Bankruptcy
Many bankruptcy practitioners are at least somewhat familiar with the highly publicized proceedings involving Life Partners Holdings Inc. (LPHI), a company that sold fractional ownership interests in life insurance policies — referred to as life settlements. This case was as complex as any could imagine and, as the Trustee appointed to manage this bankruptcy, the author had a front-row seat.
AIM 1-2-3
November 01, 2017
There is a patented methodology that follows the same path that the introduction of depreciation followed, with the impact being similar in its influence, power and effect: The AIM (Actuarially Initiated Measurements) Program. An employer using this methodology realizes the ability to uncover and maximize missed opportunities to control fluctuations and variations in earnings per share (EPS).
Discovery Strategies for a Creditor in a Bankruptcy Case
November 01, 2017
<b><i>Beyond Filing a Proof of Claim</b></i><p>This article explains the rights of a creditor, whether an equipment financier or otherwise, to pursue examinations of a debtor in bankruptcy in order to obtain sworn testimony and information that may be helpful to the creditor.
The Myth of the Secure Cloud
"There's really no such thing as the cloud, there are only other people's computers." This may have been true at first; but it is now worth some investigation if the present threat environment today demands a secure cloud.
DE Supreme Court Clarifies Role of Deal Price In Appraisal Fair Value Determination
Corporate practitioners have been closely following developments in Delaware's shareholder appraisal litigation. Much of the interest concerns the court's "fair value" determination and the risk that an acquiring company will have to pay appraisal petitioners more than the merger deal price. In a much-anticipated decision, the Delaware Supreme Court provides valuable guidance about the relative importance of the deal price in the court's adjudication of the "fair value" of a petitioner's shares.
