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April 24, 2014
Judge Trims Emblaze's Streaming Patent Suit Against Apple
A California federal judge on Thursday trimmed Israeli software firm Emblaze Ltd.'s suit against Apple Inc. accusing the technology giant of infringing a video and audio-streaming patent, declining to invalidate the patent but ruling that Apple had not willfully infringed Emblaze’s technology.
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April 24, 2014
Eclipse's Patent Suit Needn't Cite An Infringing Product
PayByPhone Technologies Inc. lost its bid to dismiss nonpracticing entity Eclipse IP LLC's suit alleging PayByPhone's mobile parking payment products violate three Eclipse patents, when a California federal judge ruled Thursday that Eclipse's complaint needn't identify a specific infringing product.
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April 24, 2014
Group Bashes SEC For Holding Up Electronic Privacy Reforms
An Internet privacy advocacy coalition on Thursday stepped up its calls for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to lift its opposition to legislation that would raise the bar for government access to electronic communications and for the White House to weigh in on the reform efforts.
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April 24, 2014
Apple Can't Split Trials, Switch Venues In E-Book Case
Apple Inc.’s bid to split up and change the venue of a damages trial in the e-book antitrust saga failed Thursday, with a New York federal judge saying the eleventh-hour request was inconsistent with the company’s previous demand for a single trial.
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April 24, 2014
9th Circ. Vacates Apple Adapter Settlement Over Attys' Fees
A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday sided with objectors contesting a class action settlement with Apple Inc. that would have granted refunds to customers who bought defective power adapters, ruling that a lower court did not properly vet the $3 million in attorneys’ fees.
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April 24, 2014
Do-Not-Track Group Finally Nails Down Tech Standard
The working group tasked with crafting an online tracking standard took a major step forward Thursday, overcoming years of bickering to release a model for a standardized signal that consumers can use to tell servers they don't want their data collected across different websites.
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April 24, 2014
NEC's $6M Deal OK'd In Disk Drive Price-Fixing MDL
A California federal judge on Thursday granted preliminary approval to a $6 million deal between NEC Corp. and customers who directly purchased the company's optical disk drives, allowing NEC to exit sprawling multidistrict litigation alleging a conspiracy to fix prices on CD, DVD and Blu-Ray computer disk drives.
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April 24, 2014
Motorola Seeks En Banc Review Of 7th Circ. LCD Ruling
Motorola Mobility LLC on Thursday asked the Seventh Circuit to rehear en banc a decision blocking nearly $3.5 billion in antitrust claims over mobile devices containing allegedly price-fixed liquid crystal display panels bought by Motorola's foreign subsidiaries, saying the ruling “hamstrings” the deterrent effect of the Sherman Act.
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April 24, 2014
Verizon Urges High Court To Review IRS' WorldCom Claim
A Verizon Communications Inc. unit has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an Internal Revenue Service claim for millions in excise taxes filed against against WorldCom Inc.'s bankruptcy estate, arguing the claim defied both legal and IRS precedent.
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April 24, 2014
Deals Rumor Mill: Barrick Gold, Sampo, Monaco Telecom
Barrick Gold and rival Newmont Mining have worked out disagreements that have hindered the gold mining giants' merger talks, while Finland's Sampo is hoping to sell its property and casualty insurance arm.
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April 24, 2014
Merchant & Gould Snags Corporate Patent Ace In Atlanta
Merchant & Gould PC has deepened its intellectual property bench with the addition of a patent prosecution specialist who has a decade of corporate counsel experience and is looking to make inroads in the technology, aerospace and defense industries, the firm announced Monday.
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April 24, 2014
SunTrust, GE Slapped With Online Banking Patent Suits
General Electric Capital Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc. were hit with two separate lawsuits in Delaware federal court Wednesday that accuse their online banking systems of infringing Joao Bock Transaction Systems LLC's patent on secure transaction technology.
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April 24, 2014
Fed. Circ. Stays Out Of USPTO Decisions To Open AIA Reviews
The Federal Circuit said Thursday it doesn't have jurisdiction to hear appeals of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decisions on instituting inter partes reviews, which were created by the America Invents Act, shooting down such appeals by St. Jude Medical Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and a car-dealership software maker.
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April 24, 2014
US Seeks To Wrest Control Of Bankruptcy From TelexFree
The government watchdog tasked with overseeing the bankruptcy of accused Ponzi schemer TelexFree LLC asked Tuesday that a trustee be appointed to take over the Chapter 11 proceedings, in light of allegations that the telecommunications company is nothing more than an elaborate pyramid scheme that preys on immigrants.
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April 24, 2014
Life Sciences, Tech IPOs Soared In 2013
The number of life sciences and technology companies that successfully floated in the U.S. increased by 62 percent in 2013 compared to the year prior, highlighting investor confidence in those sectors, according to a report released Thursday.
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April 24, 2014
Microsoft, Google Sued Over Search, Intrusion Patents
Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and others were hit with infringement suits in Delaware federal court on Wednesday that allege the companies have violated patents for search engines and intrusion detection methods.
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April 24, 2014
Bazaarvoice Settles With DOJ In $168M Merger Challenge
Bazaarvoice Inc. reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday requiring the online product review platform provider to sell off its recently acquired PowerReviews Inc. unit to Viewpoints LLC to resolve the government's antitrust challenge to the $168 million acquisition.
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April 24, 2014
Former Bell South Worker Loses Appeal In Firing Case
A Florida appeals court on Wednesday affirmed summary judgment against a woman claiming Bell South Telecommunications Inc.'s refusal to limit her workweek during her high-risk pregnancy and her subsequent termination caused complications that led to a premature birth, ruling that her doctor's testimony was inadmissible.
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April 24, 2014
Apple, Google Settle Anti-Poaching Case With Engineers
Google Inc., Apple Inc., Intel Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. have agreed to settle antitrust claims from a group of software engineers accusing the technology giants of agreeing not to hire each other's employees, the parties said Thursday.
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April 24, 2014
Calif. Car-Data Privacy Bill Stalls In Committee
A California bill that would require automakers to allow consumers to access data generated by onboard computer systems fizzled on Tuesday in a Senate committee hearing, as members hesitated to wade into a complex debate over privacy and proprietary information.
Expert Analysis
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Legal Evolution: Back To Business
More often, smaller rivals are taking market share from the largest law firms. In this context, these smaller rivals are not small — they are super-regional firms with between 201 and 750 attorneys, large enough to serve the needs of a global corporation at a better value. And as they grow, they need to be sure they don’t make the same mistakes as the firms from which they’ve taken market share, says Michael Lipps of LexisNexis.
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Don't Forget Export Rules When Hiring Foreign Nationals
The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security's recent $115,000 settlement with Intevac Inc. for violations of the Export Administration Regulations, including allowing certain non-U.S. national employees access to controlled technology, emphasizes the need to assess potential export control requirements when applying for a work visa on behalf of a foreign national employee, say James Losey and Sarah Flannery of Thompson & Hine LLP.
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ITC On Digital Imports: Takeaways For Software, Media Cos.
The U.S. International Trade Commission's much-awaited decision in Certain Digital Models confirms that the ITC can provide a powerful remedy for software, publishing and media companies whose intellectual property rights have been violated. However, those wishing to take advantage of this decision should craft their discovery requests carefully, and consider the timing of when they file complaints, says Aarti Shah, a partner with Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC and former senior investigative attorney at the ITC.
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Mandatory Pro Bono Is Not The Answer For Practitioners
The State Bar of California has decided to follow New York's lead and require prospective attorneys to record 50 hours of pro bono service in order to be eligible for admission. While we applaud the intentions behind these initiatives, there are a number of reasons why state bars should limit any mandatory pro bono requirement to this context, rather than extend it to licensed attorneys as some have suggested, say attorneys with the Association of Pro Bono Counsel.
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An Accused Infringer’s Guide To Parallel Proceedings
By managing the timing of post-grant proceedings, an accused infringer may increase its chances of negating a damages award in parallel district court litigation. Taking measures to actively create circumstances like those in Fresenius v. Baxter is a way to insure against a potentially large patent infringement judgment, say Jeffrey Totten and Elizabeth Laughton of Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP.
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The Evolving New Normal For Data Breach Responses
The Target Corp. and Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey data breaches differed in manner, size and scope, but both reveal the vulnerabilities all companies are facing. A nuanced, more responsive, and more uniform legal and regulatory framework is required. That environment is being shaped by private actions, legislative and administrative responses, and various corporate initiatives, say Mark Salah Morgan and Andres Acebo of Day Pitney LLP.
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Mobile Enforcement Continues To Be APPealing To FTC
Since the Federal Trade Commission announced its first enforcement action involving a mobile app back in 2011, the commission has actively brought privacy cases against app developers under Section 5 of the FTC Act. Oftentimes, the FTC's actions came from a disconnect between the privacy policies and actions a mobile app or device took, which may have resulted from an update without alerting consumers, say Alysa Hutnik and Crystal Skelton of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.
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The Future Of Law Firm PR: The Good, Bad And Ugly
There has been a dramatic change in how public relations professionals interact with the news media to promote or protect a law firm’s brand and reputation. But content is queen and has a bright future in law firm PR — it all begins with a plan that should include goals, performance indicators and a system of assessment, say Paul Webb, director of marketing at Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP, and Kathy O'Brien, senior vice president at Jaffe PR.
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Connected Cars Collide With Consumer Privacy
Some predict "connected cars" will generate revenue of more than $25 billion in 2014 and more than $130 billion in 2019. But before automakers, mobile app developers and others in the connected car ecosystem can cash in, legislators and regulators have difficult data privacy issues to address, says Nancy Libin, a partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP and former chief privacy and civil liberties officer of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Antitrust Guidance On Cybersecurity Reaffirms Old Approach
Though the antitrust agencies’ recent policy statement on cybersecurity information-sharing is consistent with prior guidance, it is significant. It is not likely that cybersecurity legislation will become law anytime soon, and this statement responds to industry’s concerns by clearly establishing that properly designed and executed cyberthreat information-sharing does not raise antitrust concerns, say Jamillia Padua Ferris and Paul Tiao of Hunton & Williams LLP.