Legal Acrobatics A Review of Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0
May 31, 2005
If you haven't already seen a couple reviews of Acrobat 7.0, you must not be reading much legal tech trade literature! I've caught at least half a dozen already. Adobe Systems has accompanied the release of their latest version with quite a media blitz, at least in the legal sector. And for good reason. The Acrobat product family encompasses a host of features highly useful for legal professionals.
Bit Parts
May 27, 2005
Recent developments in entertainment law.
We Should Get Together More
May 27, 2005
There's a marketing concept out there that many law firms have just recently stumbled upon, one that most other types of industries have known well for decades ' return on investment, or ROI. As firms become more sophisticated in marketing, as budgets for marketing increase, and as competition becomes more fierce, firms are beginning to demand that their marketing dollars they spend produce results. <br>Nowhere is the concept of ROI more easily implemented, tracked, and realized than in the area of Internet marketing, through the use of Web sites and the search engines that locate them.
Pros and Cons of Drafting Patent Applications in India
May 26, 2005
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.
Eureka v. Wentworth: Further Erosion of the 'Hell or High Water' Principle
May 26, 2005
A fundamental tenet of equipment leasing has been the concept of "hell or high water" rental payments. Once the lease is signed and the lessee accepts the goods, then the lessee's promises under the lease become irrevocable, especially the promise to pay rent. The draftsmen of UCC Article 2A recognized this critical element and codified it with respect to a finance lease in UCC §2A-407(1)-(2) (all citations herein refer to Uniform Commercial Code Article 2A pre-2003 revisions). A finance lease is a particular type of "true" equipment lease in which the lessee itself selects the item of equipment it wants and instructs the lessor to acquire it for lease to the lessee. UCC §2A-103(g). A finance lessor is neither the manufacturer nor supplier of the item of equipment; it is merely providing the money. Article 2A of the Uniform Commercial Code (the "Code" or the "UCC") extends certain benefits to finance lessors, one of the most important of which is that the lessee's promises are not subject to termination, modification or repudiation; in other words, the lessee must comply with them come "hell or high water." UCC §2A-407(2)(b).
Google v. American Blind: Staying in Line with Online Advertising?
May 26, 2005
One of the hot intellectual property topics for 2005 — and perhaps beyond — is whether the sale and use of trademarks as keywords constitutes trademark infringement, and, if so, who is liable for that infringement. How the courts ultimately resolve this issue will affect the billion-dollar Internet advertising industry, those who participate in online advertising and those seeking to prevent the unauthorized use of their trademarks on the Internet. This article discusses <i>Google v. American Blind & Wallpaper Factory, Inc.</i>, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6228 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 30, 2005), the most recent case to address the emerging issue of "markmatching" in Internet contextual advertising, and its relationship to trademark infringement.
Typosquatting and the Duty to Police Infringing Trademarks: Initial Interest Confusion and 'Post-Initial Confusion'
May 26, 2005
You are the owner of KibbleSoft, the widely used fuzzy-logic retail management software package for pet food distributors. Understanding the value of the KibbleSoft brand, you have registered the trademark and carefully policed against infringers for a number of years. And having early grasped the importance of the Internet for promoting your brand, you were also a step ahead of the cybersquatters and acquired the <i>kibblesoft.com</i> domain in 1996. Much of your business now runs through your heavy-trafficked Web site at <i>www.kibblesoft.com.</i>
Can Bonded Shopping Boost e-Commerce?
May 26, 2005
Because e-commerce lacks face-to-face interaction, and online transactions are often completed without any communication between the buyer and seller, there always exists a margin of risk with respect to payment security, data protection and transaction fraud. Specifically, e-commerce has provided a feeding ground for many a fraud perpetuator looking to scam anywhere from a few bucks to millions of dollars from unknowing consumers. Although attorneys, particularly those reading this publication, perform due diligence helping to avoid such problems, unfortunately some attorneys are busy trying to undo some problems created in the course of e-commerce.
Have You Inherited A Deceased Employee's e-Mail?
May 26, 2005
Clearly, if an employer possesses the desired e-mails because the employer saved a copy of each e-mail sent to it, or because it owned its employee's computer within which the desired e-mails reside, then it would also own the e-mail. But the more problematic facts include what would happen if the employer didn't possess the desired e-mails.
