<i>Versata v. SAP </i>: Definitions Are Now the Name of the Game
<i>Versata Development Group v. SAP America</i> was a closely watched case since it was the first appeal to the Federal Circuit of a Covered Business Methods review by the PTAB under Section 18 of the America Invents Act. This article addresses the court's reasoning regarding the definitions of a covered business method patent, and how that reasoning is at odds with norms of statutory construction, technological innovation, and claim drafting.
Dewey Witness Says She Never Intended To Defraud
A cooperating witness in the Dewey & LeBoeuf criminal trial, Dianne Cascino, testified last month that she didn't believe she was breaking the law when she made accounting adjustments as the firm's director of revenue support.
Tackle Billing Now to Avoid a Year-End Surprise
Attorneys rarely think about billings and collections in the summer or early fall. Instead, those are topics often left to the year-end collections push. By waiting, however, attorneys lose money, assume risks and otherwise miss important red flags for potential problems that can be avoided or resolved.
Buyout Funding and Death Benefits
Professional service organizations traditionally have elected a pass thru entity status (S Corp., LLC, LLP, partnership) in order to reduce double taxation at the principal's level. Similar additional taxation may occur with C Corps. and accumulated earnings tax as well as other confiscatory grabs. These issues create an impediment for the current accumulation of funds to satisfy a principal's buyout in future years.
Time to Revisit Equitable Mootness
Recently, Third Circuit Judge Cheryl Ann Krause urged the court to "consider eliminating, or at the very least reforming equitable mootness." Two recent decisions from the Third and Ninth Circuits confirm why Judge Krause is right.
It's Time for a Data Protection Checkup
This article is part of a series based on the BakerHostetler Data Security Incident Response Report. It focuses on developing and maintaining an information governance (IG) program. Look for further installments in future issues.
Behind the SEC's Recent Crackdown on Compliance Officials
On June 18, 2015, SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher wrote in a statement placed on the SEC website that the SEC was sending a "troubling message": Chief compliance officers (CCOs) should not take ownership of their firms' compliance policies and procedures, lest they be held accountable for conduct that is not really their responsibility.
