Newegg Scores in Federal e-Commerce Patent Case
February 28, 2013
After six years of litigation, the online retailer Newegg Inc. has delivered a major blow to Soverain Software LLC, which has raked in tens of millions of dollars asserting patents related to e-commerce. Siding with Newegg in a 25-page decision issued on January 22, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit invalidated three of Soverain's patents on obviousness grounds.
Integrating Trans-Atlantic Internet Medical Law
February 28, 2013
Technological developments such as videoconferencing, the Internet, store-and-forward imaging, streaming media and terrestrial and wireless communications have caused rapid changes in how electronic transmission of patient information ' <i>i.e.</i>, telemedicine ' is conducted. So, too, have legal developments in America and Europe.
Transmission Claims Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
February 28, 2013
Given the allure of robust remedies in federal court, companies routinely plead CFAA unauthorized access claims ' in addition to state law causes of action for misappropriation and breach of contract ' against former employees who seek a competitive edge through the use of information misappropriated from their former employer's computer network.
News Briefs
February 28, 2013
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
CA Ruling Backs e-Tailers
February 28, 2013
The California Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on Feb. 4 that the Legislature never intended to apply the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971 to e-commerce, meaning that retailers can take addresses and telephone numbers when conducting remote credit card transactions.
Court Watch
February 28, 2013
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Discovery in Arbitration Proceedings
February 28, 2013
This article marks the debut of an occasional column that will provide franchise attorneys with practical advice about conducting arbitrations.
3-D Printing: Strategies to Anticipate the Next Disruptive Technology
February 28, 2013
One could be forgiven for believing that 3-D printing ' essentially the ability to design and "print" three-dimensional objects ' remains either in the scope of far-fetched science fiction, or out of reach for the masses on account of being hopelessly expensive and complicated. Both of those assumptions, however, are wrong.
Franchised Employees Might Be Employees of Franchisor
February 28, 2013
In a troubling development for franchisors, a Missouri federal district court has conditionally certified a class of plaintiffs in a collective action brought against Hotshots Sports Bar & Grill under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Missouri's wage and hour laws. The ruling in <i>White v. 14051 Manchester, Inc.</i> is concerning because it holds, at least preliminarily, that employees of independently owned franchises may be considered employees of the franchisor under the FLSA, based on a common form of control exercised in most franchisor-franchisee relationships.