How To Be Among the 'Listed'
March 30, 2006
Legal publications' lists of lawyers can increase the reputation of a particular attorney, practice or law firm. While getting listed can be a boon for a firm's marketing efforts and for lateral and associate recruiting, unfortunately, 'Sorry, maybe next year,' is the most common phrase heard by law firms vying for these sought after spots.
Think Inside The Box
March 30, 2006
As much as we might try to brand, differentiate, cross-market, and otherwise distinguish our law firms in the legal services marketplace, a law firm's success ultimately comes down to individual lawyers. They are the ones who must bring in the business, retain it and grow it. That is good reason for law firm marketing departments to focus on their internal clients first and foremost. Think inside the box, then build outward to devise strategies and tactics for building and retaining external clients.
Court Watch
March 30, 2006
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Law Firm Mergers: What's the End Game?
March 30, 2006
There have been over 170 law firm mergers in the U.S. in the last 3 years. Although the pace has slowed a little since a peak of 82 in 2002, there is no end in sight.
Mixed Reviews For Blogging Law Professors
March 30, 2006
As more law professors are tapping away at their computers on blogs that cover everything from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to the death penalty, they also may be chipping away at the ivory tower.<br>An increasing number of law professors are using blogs ' online journals or newsletters ' to break free from traditional modes of legal scholarship. With an immediacy and ability to reach millions of readers, blogs are proving an attractive vehicle among legal scholars for spouting and sharing ideas.<br>But they are also raising concerns that they may lead to a 'dumbing down' of the profession.
Downloading Copyrighted Songs Is Not 'Fair Use'
March 30, 2006
In an important decision interpreting the fair use provision of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. '107), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that downloading full copies of copyrighted material without compensation to authors cannot be deemed 'fair use.' In <i>BMG Music v. Gonzalez</i>, Judge Frank H. Easter-brook, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, rejected the defendant's argument that she was immune from liability because she was merely sampling songs that she had downloaded from the KaZaA file-sharing network on a 'try-before-you-buy basis.'
The Use Of Trademarks To Trigger Internet Advertising
March 30, 2006
On Feb. 7, 2006, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment of trademark infringement in favor of manufacturers of tanning lotions against several unauthorized distributors. The defendants had paid for preferential search engine listings when computer users searched for plaintiffs' trademarks and has also placed plaintiffs' trademarks in the metatags of their Web sites (metatags are internal Web site coding often used by search engines to identify the content of Web sites).
Intellectual Asset M&A Due Diligence and Risk Management
March 29, 2006
In a typical corporate merger or acquisition, the associated intellectual assets exhibit several concurrent financial behaviors. On the balance sheet, intellectual assets behave like financial derivatives. On the asset side of the balance sheet, an intellectual asset creates the opportunity but not the obligation for an owner to capture above-average 'rents' from the sale of patented and/or branded goods and services ' a call option. An intellectual asset also creates the opportunity but not the obligation for an owner to assert patent rights against someone else, even if the owner is not using the rights otherwise ' a put option. On the liability side of the balance sheet, an intellectual asset holder may find himself targeted as a defendant where a host of incurred but not reported ('IBNR') historic events comprise a Pandora's box of expensive 'issues.' Hence, intellectual assets by their nature tend to generate volatile returns if the owner does not fully appreciate and manage associated risks.
Snapshot Look At Current Adult Entertainment Biz
March 29, 2006
For a few days recently, I 'researched' the adult-entertainment industry for this article. I became curious as to just how big the industry was, what kind of money was being made and what companies owned, operated, managed and provided adult entertainment. In fact, there are multiple segments and sectors within the industry, with companies involved in movies, books and magazines, Web sites and software, nightclubs, adult-cable networks, pay-per-view services, telephone and online services, retail stores and catalogs.
