Technology

Expert Analysis

• Spotlight On Public Availability In Inter Partes Review

  

  Two back-to-back decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board — Sipnet EU S.R.O. v. Straight Path IP Group Inc. and Toyota Motor Corporation v. American Vehicular Sciences LLC — help to bookend its views on when information in an inter partes review proceeding is or is not a printed publication, says Michael O’Neill of Fitzpatrick Cella Harper & Scinto LLP.

• FCC Adopts Net Neutrality Regulations — What Lies Ahead?

  

  If allowed to stand, the Federal Communications Commission's revised network neutrality regulations will have far-reaching implications for the telecommunications, media, content, Internet and technology industries. One of the first decisions that net neutrality opponents will need to make is whether to seek a judicial stay of the order and the regulations, say attorneys with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

• 2 Years Of Clapper: Takeaways From 12 Data Breach Cases

  

  Feb. 26 marks the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Clapper v. Amnesty International USA. Federal district courts in at least 12 data breach cases have applied Clapper, and while the majority have concluded that Clapper mandates dismissal for a lack of standing, some courts have found that standing exists, says Andrew Hoffman of InfoLawGroup LLP.

• The 4 Corners Of The Innovation Act Of 2015

  

  The Innovation Act, recently reintroduced in the House, builds upon the already significant patent litigation reform that was adopted in the America Invents Act of 2011 in four fundamental respects, says J.C. Boggs of King & Spalding LLP.

• This Week In Congress: Avoiding A DHS Funding Showdown

  

  One major change in the debate over U.S. Department of Homeland Security funding — which expires this Friday — is that a Texas federal district judge has issued an injunction against the Obama administration’s immigration policy, essentially putting it on hold. This may be an opportunity for the Senate to avoid the policy riders and pass a clean funding bill, says Richard Hertling and Kaitlyn McClure of Covington & Burling LLP.

• In-House Counsel's Dirty 'Little' Secret: Data Leakage

  

  Not every data breach is a massive headline-grabbing theft of consumer credit card information. As significant as these events may seem, the more dangerous and prevalent threats are the least visible — occurring through "data leakage." Put simply, this is raw meat awaiting a strike by the plaintiff’s bar, says legal industry adviser Jennifer Topper.

• SOX Section 304 Enforcement At The SEC’s Whim?

  

  Because Sarbanes-Oxley Section 304(a) requires no proof of culpability on the part of corporate officers, the employment of this draconian clawback provision is particularly difficult to forecast, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which recently clawed back $500,000 in bonuses and profits from two Saba Software executives, remains the exclusive enforcement entity, say Mary Hansen and Garrett Trego of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.

• Cyberthreat Spawns New Era Of Public-Private Collaboration

  

  The government and private sector already are innovating in the forms of collaboration necessary to address the cybersecurity threat. The challenge moving forward will be to institutionalize and expand these means of working together, says Judith Germano, a professor at NYU School of Law.

• PTAB Holds A Firm Line On Additional Discovery

  

  Congress created inter partes review and covered business method review as quicker and more cost-effective alternatives to district court. After two years, a noticeable trend has emerged regarding how the Patent Trial and Appeal Board is accomplishing these objectives through its decisions on motions for additional discovery, say Alison Baldwin and Lisa Schoedel of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP.

• Aereo And Its Limited Application To New Technologies

  

  Several recent cases confirm that the reach of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year in American Broadcasting Company Inc. v. Aereo Inc. is quite limited, says Timothy Buckley of Powley & Gibson PC.