Features
'Best Efforts,' 'Commercially Reasonable' and Other Terms No One Understands
In this article, the authors explore why vague contractual terms are routinely used, explain how they have been inconsistently interpreted by the courts, and offer some practical tips to minimize the havoc ambiguous terms can wreak.
Features
Preparing for New Crowdfunding Regulations
On May 16, Regulation Crowdfunding came into effect. Regulation Crowdfunding is applicable to crowdfunding offerings conducted in reliance on Section 4(a)(6) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.This article summarizes the practical terms of the crowdfunding rules.
Features
EU Cybersecurity Directive Update
Cyber attacks and IT security breaches are being constantly reported (the "Panama Papers" being the most recent spectacular example), and almost certainly represent just the tip of the iceberg. No one can doubt that cybersecurity is a very significant global issue with cybercrime a major international menace ' any statistics about these issues always make for grim reading.
Features
FCC's Proposed Rulemaking For Broadband Internet Access Providers
In 2015, the FCC issued its Open Internet Order, applying Section 222 of the federal Communications Act to broadband Internet access services (BIAS), and in doing so took jurisdiction over privacy and data security matters for Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Having taken on BIAS, the Commission needed to address the FCC's privacy and data protection regulatory scheme.
Columns & Departments
IP News
Federal Circuit: A Computer Database Logical Model Is Not an Abstract Idea If Directed At a Specific Implementation of a Solution to a Problem In the Software Arts <br>Federal Circuit: In Claim Construction Analysis, Plain Term Meanings and Presumption of Claim Differentiation Get Outweighed By Intrinsic Evidence and Prosecution History
Features
Building the Better Buy-Sell Agreement
Buy-sell agreements are arrangements between owners of a business where one or more owners agree that they will purchase the interest of an owner who withdraws or becomes deceased. Essentially, a buy-sell agreement is similar to prenuptial agreement between business owners, which details the financial aspect of the unwinding of the business relationship.
Features
Recent Uses of Software and the DMCA
One of the motivations for enacting the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was the acknowledgement by Congress of "the ease with which pirates could copy and distribute a copyrightable work in digital form was overwhelming the capacity of conventional copyright enforcement to find and enjoin unlawfully copied material." Among the provisions created to redress this rampant infringement were the prohibitions against: 1) removing copyright management information (CMI); and 2) circumventing technological measures in place to prevent infringement. Each is controversial.
Features
Supreme Court Deadlock over Spousal Guaranties Will Continue to Affect Costs of Equipment Financing
This article is a follow-up to the author's September, 2015, review of best practices for obtaining spousal guaranties in equipment financing transactions in light of the Supreme Court's decision in <i>Hawkins v. Community Bank of Raymore.</i>
Features
Measure to Manage: Understanding and Using Data to Affect Firm Change and Client Relationships
Organized and meaningful data has been leveraged in progressive organizations for years, but now that data and information is highly accessible and easily consumable via the ever-expanding digital mesh, enterprise-level expectations and related legal business impact have been elevated. With this new reality come many questions.
Features
Survey: Distrust of Vendors Raises Questions on Data Security, Regulatory Compliance
Obviously, data breaches aren't trust builders, but many companies are skeptical even of those parties with whom they share confidential data, including their own vendors.
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