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Technology
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May 17, 2013
FBI Wiretap Proposal Raises Cybersecurity Risks, Experts Say
Nearly two dozen computer security experts on Friday criticized an FBI proposal that would force service providers such as Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. to build surveillance backdoors into their products, saying the mandate would open up major security holes that could be exploited by hackers.
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May 17, 2013
Warner Bros. Beats IP Suit Over Batman Movie Software
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. on Thursday escaped an unusual trademark suit over the fictional “clean slate” software featured in the movie “The Dark Knight Rises” when an Indiana judge ruled consumers would not confuse it with a real software product of the same name.
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May 17, 2013
FCC Drops More Than 120 'Outdated' Rules
The Federal Communications Commission lifted more than a 120 “outdated” rules on phone companies and partly granted a bid by a broadband communications trade group USTelecom, the agency said Friday just as its Chairman Julius Genachowski exits his role.
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May 17, 2013
Investor Says Bain's $7B Bid For Software Co. Is Too Low
A pension fund that invests in Houston-based BMC Software Inc. on Thursday sued in Delaware Chancery court to challenge a $6.9 billion take-private deal led by Bain Capital LLC and Golden Gate Capital, saying it undervalues the company and cheats shareholders.
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May 17, 2013
MetroPCS Ditches Challenge To FCC Net Neutrality Regs
MetroPCS Communications Inc., which recently merged with T-Mobile USA Inc., has dropped its challenge in the D.C. Circuit to the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules preventing Internet service providers from blocking or discriminating against legitimate websites, T-Mobile confirmed Friday.
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May 17, 2013
Congress Should Lead On Drone Privacy, Lawmakers Told
A panel of privacy experts pushed House lawmakers on Friday to craft legislation to limit the use of domestic drones and other surveillance technology used by the public and private sectors, saying that it would be unwise to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to set standards.
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May 17, 2013
Motorola Didn't Infringe Wireless Headset Patent, Jury Says
A Texas federal jury said Thursday that Motorola Mobility Inc. did not infringe Effingo Wireless Inc.'s patents for wireless headset assemblies and also determined that Effingo's patent claims were invalid.
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May 17, 2013
ITC OKs Ericsson Bid For Docs From Samsung's Korean Firm
A U.S. International Trade Commission judge on Thursday asked a federal court to allow Ericsson Inc. to seek discovery from a Korean law firm that a prosecuted a Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. 4G LTE patent that Ericsson is accused of infringing.
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May 17, 2013
Summit 6 Wants $2M More After $15M Samsung Patent Verdict
A technology licensing company that won a $15 million patent infringement verdict last month against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. asked a Texas federal judge on Friday to award it $2 million more in prejudgment interest.
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May 17, 2013
Juniper Ducks Securities Suit Over Alleged Misstatements
A California federal judge on Friday threw out a putative class action brought against Juniper Networks Inc. for purportedly assuring investors that the company was doing well when it was actually facing several problems, saying the allegations didn’t give reasonable inference that Juniper’s projections were false and misleading.
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May 17, 2013
Elliott, Compuware Extend Standstill, Keep Proxy Door Open
Elliott Management Corp., the hedge fund that offered to buy Compuware Corp. for $2.3 billion, was granted two more months to examine the corporation's finances and mull over a board shakeup, after an agreement was extended Thursday temporarily barring the fund from bulking up on the corporation’s stock.
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May 17, 2013
USPTO Asks To Toss Suit Over Biz Method Definition
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday sought the dismissal of Versata Software Inc.'s complaint alleging the office uses too broad a definition of a business method patent in a new patent review program, saying the suit is barred by the America Invents Act.
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May 17, 2013
House Reps. Push Google To Address Glass Privacy Concerns
Eight members of the Bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus on Thursday pressed Google Inc. to detail how its upcoming Google Glass product would collect and store personal information on both users and nonusers, citing concerns over the potential misuse of data covertly gathered by the voice-activated glasses.
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May 17, 2013
Tessera, Under Siege, Attracts Another Hedge Fund
Tessera Technologies Inc., the semiconductor maker already fending off demands from one hedge fund shareholder, has picked up another on Friday as SAC Capital Advisers LP disclosed a 5 percent stake.
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May 17, 2013
Drinker Biddle Snags E-Discovery Duo From Williams Mullen
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP said that it has recently added two former Williams Mullen partners to chair its information governance and electronic discovery practice in Washington, D.C.
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May 17, 2013
Deals Rumor Mill: Yahoo, Advent, Blackstone
Yahoo is gunning for blogging site Tumblr in what could shake out to be another billion-dollar deal in the social networking space, while Blackstone is putting together a "super" fund that plucks the best and boldest trades from its existing third-party funds.
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May 17, 2013
Apple Says It Sparked E-Book Competition With Market Entry
Apple Inc. told a New York federal court Thursday that its entry into the e-book market increased competition and that its negotiations with major publishers did not amount to a price-fixing conspiracy, as the U.S. Department of Justice has suggested.
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May 17, 2013
HP Deflects Blame In 'Chubby Checker' Penis-Size App Suit
Hewlett Packard Co. on Thursday distanced itself from "The Chubby Checker," a penis-size calculator targeted in singer Chubby Checker's trademark infringement lawsuit in Florida, arguing software developers who created and named the now-defunct Palm application may be held liable, but not HP.
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May 16, 2013
Yahoo Wins Reversal Of $2.75B Judgment In Mexico
Yahoo Inc. won reversal of a $2.75 billion judgment from a Mexico appeals court in a breach of contract suit brought by Worldwide Directories SA de CV and Ideas Interactivas SA de CV, the Internet giant announced Thursday.
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May 16, 2013
Powerwave's Ch. 11 Sale Approved After Creditors Strike Deal
A fight between the creditors committee and the senior secured lender in the Powerwave Technologies bankruptcy case over a disappointing $17 million bid for the company was resolved Thursday when the two sides came to a last-minute settlement that will allow the Chapter 11 sale to go forward but still provide a small return for unsecured creditors.
Expert Analysis
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Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
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SEC’s Unbundling Rules Get Breath Of Life
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision’s “unbundling” requirements have largely been the stuff of SEC lore — periodically referred to but rarely seen in corporate governance matters. However, thanks to the high profile dispute between David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital and Apple, the unbundling rules may finally be coming out of the shadows, say attorneys with King & Spalding LLP.
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An Update On Joint Infringement In Cloud Computing
Assuming a feature of cloud-based email service warrants patent protection, a method claim may need to cover the conduct of two or three entities that act in concert to put the email application into service. For claims of that sort, the Akamai decision makes proving induced infringement easier, says Steven Amundson of Frommer Lawrence & Haug LLP.
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FCC Ruling Provides TCPA Guidance For Courts
The Federal Communications Commission’s long-anticipated ruling in the Charvat v. Echostar and U.S. v. Dish Network LLP matter is significant because it confirms that companies that do not exercise undue levels of control over their telemarketers or their call centers will not be held liable when those third parties violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, say attorneys with Locke Lord LLP.
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Benefits For Cloud Providers Adhering To US-EU Safe Harbor
The U.S. Commerce Department recently concluded that the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor's flexibility can account for any potentially unique data protection issue that may be raised by cloud computing, which suggests the program's ongoing value to U.S.-based enterprises seeking to ensure adequate data protection of personal information processed from the EU, say attorneys with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC.
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CLS Bank Ruling Provides No Guidance On Patent Eligibility
The decision in CLS Bank International v. Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. spotlights the Federal Circuit’s serious divisions on Section 101 analysis. In the face of these divisions, decisions by Federal Circuit panels as to patent eligibility of specific claims under Section 101 will continue to be inconsistent, say Charles Macedo and David Goldberg of Amster Rothstein & Ebenstein LLP.
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Viacom V. YouTube Provides Some Insight Into DMCA
Though many of the issues in Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube Inc. are still unsettled in light of the strong likelihood of additional appeal in the Second Circuit, the district court’s analysis provides a basic framework for the Southern District of New York’s interpretation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbor provisions, say attorneys with Latham & Watkins LLP.
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E-Discovery In The Cloud: Who Can Get Your Data?
Many lawyers are asking whether placing electronically stored information in the cloud could inadvertently waive the attorney-client privilege and whether the government or a civil litigant could obtain ESI directly from a cloud service provider. In answering these questions, there are a number of aspects of the cloud worth considering, say Timothy Broas and Matthew Saxon of Winston & Strawn LLP.
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5 Reasons For Optimism In The Venture Capital Community
Not every company can be the next Facebook. But thankfully, for many startups, generating one billion users is not the end goal, nor should it be. Enter “narrowcasting” — one of a few reasons to be optimistic about venture capital, despite the first quarter of 2013 being the slowest for fundraising since 2002, says David Kaufman of Thompson Coburn LLP.
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How To Use The New Trademark Clearinghouse
As the rollout of new Internet domains continues to become more complex, it is crucial for intellectual property owners to familiarize themselves with each step of the trademark clearinghouse registration process in order to have full control over their brand, says Jan Corstens of Deloitte.