IP NEWS
September 05, 2003
Highlights of the latest intellectual property cases from around the country.
Package Patent Licensing After <i>Microsoft</i>
September 05, 2003
The law governing package licensing of patents is currently undergoing a significant change. Historically, package licenses were subject to a 'per se' liability under the controlling legal doctrines. Using this per se test, a package license could be rendered unenforceable absent any inquiry into the actual market effects of the license. The recent case of <i>United States v. Microsoft,</i> 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001), marks, however, the emergence of an antitrust doctrine called the 'rule of reason' that is likely to become the dominant legal doctrine for testing package licensing of patents. This is a significant change because the rule of reason is a market-based approach that balances the anticompetitive and pro-competitive benefits of the licensing practice. Thus, a package license may be held to be enforceable even if it would have failed the traditional per se test of the patent misuse doctrine or antitrust laws.
Copyright Law and the Non-Exclusive Rights to 'Link' and 'Crawl'
September 05, 2003
One of the most important issues faced by commercial purveyors of content on the Internet is how to protect their content. Much coffee and ink have been spilled over the question of how copyright, contract and tort law may be marshaled to maximize protection (or may be circumvented to minimize it).
Bits & Bytes
September 05, 2003
Bridgeway Software, Inc. has added two new e-invoicing services to enhance its eCounsel product. These new Bridgeway services offer the choice of using either secure Web transport or flexible and simple e-mail to receive invoices. Both eCounsel Cost Management services enable corporate legal departments to receive invoices electronically from law firms directly into eCounsel, reducing processing time and eliminating manual data entry.
The Hewlett-Packard 4100 MFP ' Much More Than a Printer
September 05, 2003
Certain areas of legal technology are really more exciting than others, but the necessary evil is that we, as lawyers, are in the paper business! We can't get around it no matter how hard we try ' we pump out reams of paper each week in an effort to further our client's interests. Keeping that in mind, there are several ways to move this paper and/or to print it! I have used several major printers in my legal career, but I can honestly say that none has given me more satisfaction, as well as, better printing quality, not to mention more over all functionality, than the Hewlett-Packard 4100 MFP (multifunction printer).
Technology at Work: A Review of Syngence Services
September 05, 2003
Late last year, an old case was resurrected after an appeal resulted in our winning summary judgment being overturned. With the equivalent of 54 Bankers Boxes' worth of documents loaded on CDs as TIFF images without any associated indexing or coding, we were faced with the weighty task of processing those documents in a very short amount of time. The key issues were cost and functionality. We quickly needed usable data that could be manipulated, at a price acceptable to our client. Upon investigating our options regarding either manual or automated coding, we were introduced to the Syngence services by American Legal Copy ' our reprographics vendor in San Diego. We decided to give Syngence a try because their Syndex automated indexing service promised a basic database of information in a matter of days and their Synthetix-related content search feature intrigued us.
<B><I>Practice Tip</B></I>Choosing a Storage Format, Part II: The World of DVDs
September 05, 2003
In the March issue of this newsletter, I wrote a column about the different methods of storage formats available today. In this month's column I would like to show you how a technology originally developed for the entertainment industry ' the DVD, can help you manage the ever increasing data storage requirements of today's businesses.
'How Technical Should I Get, and When?'
September 05, 2003
Last month, part one of this two-part article asked the question: 'How technical should I get, and when?' This time, we'll consider the same question as it applies to the trial itself: How technical you should get in selecting presentation media, and ultimately displaying it to the jury. We'll also explore some best practices for bringing technology into the courtroom with you, and some popular myths and misconceptions about how jurors view 'fancy' or 'slick' presentations.
On the Job: Managing a Department of One?
September 04, 2003
Lawyers tend to embrace the solitary work style. Marketing professionals, on the other hand, can feel overworked and isolated if they have solo responsibility for shepherding a firm's marketing program. When you are a department of one, how do you manage to get your firm's work done and still preserve your sanity and sense of balance?
