Professional Development Comes of Age
April 01, 2003
As law firms grow in size and complexity, they are increasingly realizing that professional development of their lawyers can no longer be left to the haphazard of on-the-job experience. Competing effectively today requires strategic thinking about cultivation of the law firm's primary business asset: its lawyers.
Moseley Revisited: What the Victoria's Secret Case Means
April 01, 2003
The Supreme Court's recent Federal Trademark Dilution Act (FTDA) opinion, <i>Moseley et al. dba Victor's Little Secret v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc. et al.</i>, has a number of practical consequences. It settled an issue that had split the Circuits for years: whether actual dilution or a "likelihood of dilution" must be shown to establish an FTDA violation. Dilution law seeks to prevent the diminution or whittling away of a famous trademark's value through another's commercial use of the same or a similar mark. That somewhat abstract harm suggests the less concrete "likelihood of dilution" standard would more logically apply.
Bodily Appropriation" Of A Creative Work: Can Trademark Law Provide A Remedy When Copyright Law Cannot?
April 01, 2003
Can the victim of infringement of a creative work find relief under the trademark law, when relief under the copyright law may not be available, without the need to prove likely consumer confusion? With the Circuit courts split, the Supreme Court recently agreed to decide the issue in <i>Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.,</i> U.S. NO. 02-428 (granting <i>cert.</i> on January 10, 2003)
IP News
April 01, 2003
Highlights of the latest intellectual property cases from around the country.
The Latest Threat To E-Commerce : The PanIP Patent Litigation
April 01, 2003
As if the recent attacks on the tax-exempt status of Internet transactions were not enough for e-commerce vendors to worry about, a new problem has come to light for companies that sell goods or services via an Internet Web site. PanIP, LLC (PanIP), a company based in San Diego, has initiated lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against over 50 companies transacting business over their Internet Web sites, alleging that such activity constitutes infringement of two patents owned by PanIP.1 The patents asserted by PanIP are generally directed to "data processing systems designed to facilitate commercial, financial and educational transactions between multimedia terminals"2 and to "a system for filing applications with an institution from a plurality of remote sites, and for automatically processing said applications in response to each applicant's credit rating obtained from a credit reporting service."3
Equity Compensation Structures for Venture-Backed Companies Post-Enron
April 01, 2003
Equity compensation structures at venture-backed start-ups and other private companies have followed a standard pattern for many years - restricted common stock or time-vested common stock options. The traditional principal structuring considerations for employee equity compensation have been business incentives, accounting impact and tax minimization. Although significant accounting changes have occurred over the last couple of years and perceptions have changed with respect to non-cash compensation, little has changed in equity compensation structures. That is unlikely to continue to be the case, with increasing awareness among sophisticated entrepreneurs and managers of the potential adverse impact on their equity from down-round pricing and deal structures such as multiple liquidation preferences.
Secondary Private Equity Funds: The Perfect Storm
April 01, 2003
The recent growth and maturity of the private equity market has generated significant secondary market opportunities. In a maturing private equity industry, the secondary market has become increasingly viewed as a tool for private equity portfolio management and a source of liquidity, in a relatively illiquid market.
What's New in Private Equity Fund Deal Terms
April 01, 2003
There may be nothing new under the sun but there are a number of new wrinkles cropping up in the private equity fund universe which deserves some comment. Herewith a few from a fund term sheet I have recently been reviewing.
Coping with Poor Corporate Hygiene in the Early Stage
April 01, 2003
Part 2 of 2. Last month, Dan Mahoney and Jim Thorton discussed the costs of "poor corporate hygiene" in early stage companies to include the overzealous use of options (and how it affects the cap table), as well as the pitfalls of short-sighted legal structuring. The lack of attention to these issues can often render an early stage company unfundable in the next round. This month, Dan and Jim discuss the potential benefits, but more importantly the likely costs, of short-sighted corporate partnering, bad licensing and how ineffective boards can negatively impact early stage companies.
Ground-breaking Stent Approved for Clogged Heart Arteries
April 01, 2003
The FDA has just approved (April 24) the first drug eluting stent for angioplasty procedures to open clogged coronary arteries. In most cases, a stent is left permanently in the artery to keep the vessel open after angioplasty. The new stent slowly releases a drug, and has been shown in clinical studies to significantly reduce the rate of re-blockage that occurs with existing stents.
