Technology

Expert Analysis

• Peregrine Puts Hired-To-Invent Issues In Spotlight

  

  Do you think your employees are hired to invent? A California federal judge's recent ruling in Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. v. RF Micro Devices Inc. serves as a reminder that oral agreements are insufficient and employees who perform general engineering, development or other activities will likely fall outside the scope of the hired-to-invent doctrine, say Michael Bunis and Vanessa Arslanian of Choate Hall & Stewart LLP.

• Litigator’s Perspective: 5 Tips On Arbitration Provisions

  

  It happens all the time. When a dispute arises, two parties find themselves in arbitration, realizing that they might have had more leverage to dictate the terms of the process when they were negotiating the arbitration provision — but missed the opportunity, says Daniel McCloskey of Duane Morris LLP.

• 6 Years In, Why Haven't FRE 502(d) Orders Caught On?

  

  In this e-discovery era, why aren't more litigants using Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) orders and affording themselves basic protection of their most sensitive information? Or, if they are moving for such orders, why are they doing it wrong? asks John Rosans of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP.

• Trial-Ready In 180 Days: Prepare For SDNY's Rocket Docket

  

  A growing trend in the Southern District of New York akin to a sua sponte rocket docket can provide defendants with an opportunity to set the tone of discovery and shift the burden and risks of the schedule to their adversaries, say Isaac Greaney and Jackie Lu of Sidley Austin LLP.

• A 12-Point Patent Monetization Plan

  

  A recent Delaware decision acknowledges that there may be an affirmative duty of officers and directors of a corporation to monetize the corporation’s intellectual property. Fortunately, there are steps available to manage this risk that are also profitable business strategies, says Stephen Glazier of Akerman LLP.

• Keys To IP Collaborations With Universities: Part 1

  

  Despite the benefits of working with academia, there remain significant distinctions in the core missions between research institutions and for-profit companies. Without understanding these distinctions, for-profit companies often run the risk of frustrating relationships, or worse, compromising their own intellectual property positions, say attorneys with Greenberg Traurig LLP.

• Powerful Tools For Discovery And Litigation Strategy

  

  Analytics offer opportunities for refining both discovery strategy and overall litigation strategy by providing information to support better informed decisions. As an added bonus, they can result in significant cost savings, say Nathalie Hofman and Carolyn Southerland of Huron Consulting Group Inc.

• Data Breach Dismissals Continue Post-Clapper

  

  In re Science Applications International Corp. Backup Tape Data Theft Litigation reinforces the trend among federal courts in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Clapper v. Amnesty International USA that the loss of data and increased risk of indentity theft from data breaches do not constitute injury, says David Brown Jr. of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP.

• PRISM Scatters Attorney-Client Privilege

  

  Any attorney sending or storing confidential client information or privileged communications via the cloud may be knowingly exposing those communications to scrutiny by the U.S. government via programs such as the National Security Agency’s PRISM — and arguably, even waiving any claim of privilege as a result, say attorney Thomas Mullaney and Vaultive CEO Elad Yoran.

• Ambiguities Remain Despite 9th Circ. AU Optronics Ruling

  

  Unfortunately, the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act does not provide much guidance on how “direct” an effect on U.S. commerce must be for it to come within the scope of the Sherman Act, and subsequent case law — including the recent Ninth Circuit AU Optronics ruling — has not settled the issue, say attorneys with Mayer Brown LLP.