News Briefs
August 10, 2004
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
Court Watch
August 10, 2004
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
An Examination of the Hotel Industry and Multi-Branded Franchisors
August 10, 2004
Franchises dominate such industries as fast food, automobile, rental car, and cosmetics, but perhaps no business model is as dependent on franchising as the hotel industry. As a result, the hotel industry presents an interesting study on how multi-branded franchisors deal with unique issues affecting the relationships between the franchisor and its franchisee, suppliers and vendors, and the traveling public.
A Second Look at JRS Products, Inc. v. Matsushita Electric Corp.
August 10, 2004
<i>JRS Products, Inc. v. Matsushita Electric Corporation of America</i>, 115 Cal.App.4th 168, 8 Cal.Rptr.3d 840 (2004) (<i>JRS Products</i>), decided earlier this year, provides important clarification of the scope of remedies available under California law to franchisees who have been wrongfully terminated. The California Appellate Court decision holds, among other things, that the California Franchise Relations Act (CFRA) does not bar a franchisee from recovering damages for breach of contract for wrongful termination.
Top 10 Patent Drafting Mistakes That Can Impact Litigation
August 09, 2004
Discussed below are the first five of the "Top 10 Patent Drafting Mistakes" that drafters often make that can impact the successful enforceability of patents. Many of these mistakes are derived from the recognition of the challenges a patent may be subjected to in litigation, a forum in which accused infringers invariably scrutinize and challenge all aspects of a patent and its prosecution while lay judges and jurors struggle to determine whether the patent ultimately has value.
Generating Cash from a Patent Portfolio: An Overview
August 09, 2004
We have all seen the statistics: <ul><li>About two-thirds of today's S&P 500 market capitalization comes from intangible assets, having doubled in proportion from 20 years ago.</li> <li>More than $100 billion is collected annually in IP licensing income.</li> <li>More than $200 billion is written off every year from IP impairments.</li> <li>More than $300 billion in infringement (mostly innocent) occurs annually.</li></ul>
Tips for Effective Patent Application Drafting and Patent Prosecution
August 09, 2004
By now, patent attorneys who do a fair amount of patent application drafting and patent prosecution should be well versed in the fairly recent PTO rule changes dealing with various aspects of patent prosecution. Rather than discuss those rule changes, this article discusses 10 tips for better patent application drafting and patent prosecution. The first two tips deal with patent application drafting, the next four tips deal with prosecution of a patent application, the next three tips deal with things to do after receiving a notice of allowance, and the last tip deals with all stages of patent prosecution.
Preserving the Crown Jewels: Practical Strategies for Protecting Source Code in Patent Litigation Discovery
August 09, 2004
In today's Internet age, the most valuable asset belonging to many of the world's most successful organizations is "source code" — the programming underlying all software operating systems, databases, and applications. As a result, keeping source code from leaking to the public is of paramount concern, especially in light of the fact that source code published over the Internet can proliferate at an exponential pace with little more than a series of mouse clicks. If confidential code is released into the public domain, even inadvertently, it risks losing any trade secret protection it once enjoyed. <i>See, e.g., Linkco, Inc. v. Fujitsu Ltd.,</i> 230 F. Supp. 2d 492, 498-99 (S.D.N.Y. 2002). In short, once the "genie" is out of the bottle, it cannot be put back in.
