Greenberg Partners Advise on Company's China Deal
May 16, 2006
HowStuffWorks Inc., a unit of Atlanta-based Convex Group Inc., and INTAC International Inc. agreed to form a new company to develop commercial Web sites targeted to Chinese users. The new company, which will be called HSW International, will pair the content rights owned by HowStuffWorks with the sales channels in China developed by INTAC. HSW will generate revenue through advertising sales.
COMMENTARY: What Makes a Global Firm?
May 16, 2006
Recently, Vault.com eliminated its rankings for international firms because, its editors said, the staff couldn't agree on what an 'international law firm' really was. The American Lawyer has similarly struggled with the definition in its rankings. Frankly, we can understand the confusion ' these days, nearly every major firm says it's 'international.' But establishing an overseas office or two, or having a few multinational clients, is far from being truly global. This is especially true in China, where firms want to say they have a presence.
The New Challenges Of 'Deemed Exports' To China For U.S. Technology Companies And Universities
May 16, 2006
China, the second largest economy in the world by some measures, is hard for U.S. technology companies and research universities to ignore. China is a huge sales opportunity for U.S. technology industries, including the world's largest cell phone market with over 300 million users. And dramatic labor cost savings for talented employees has drawn many leading firms to locate facilities in China. Tens of thousands of Chinese students are now enrolled at the nation's top universities, and many remain in the U.S. as post-doctoral fellows and faculty members.
Evaluating Valued Policy Law After Katrina
April 28, 2006
Since first enacted in 1874 in Wisconsin, Valued Policy Law ('VPL') has become an important regulatory fixture in the insurance law of many states. At least 19 states have enacted some version of a traditional VPL. In its original formulation, VPL obliges an insurer that collected premiums for an insurable interest based on an assigned value to pay that predetermined value to the insured in the event of a total loss. That statutorily imposed obligation prevents insurers from collecting premiums on artificially inflated property values on the front end while paying insureds less than that amount after a total loss, based on actual values. VPL thus encourages insurers to investigate the actual value of the insurable interest and to collect premiums on that amount, thereby avoiding the hazards of over-insurance. Furthermore, by encouraging insurers to minimize variance between assigned values and actual values, VPL theoretically reduces insurance fraud by policyholders.
Jury Hits Merck with $9M in Punitives
April 28, 2006
On April 11, a jury in Atlantic City, NJ, ordered Merck & Co. to pay $9 million in punitive damages to a user of Vioxx, finding the drug maker knowingly withheld data from federal regulators about the painkiller's cardiovascular risks. Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market in 2004 when a study showed it doubled heart attack risk after 18 months of use. The Atlantic City trial was the first involving plaintiffs who had used Vioxx longer than that period of time.
<b>Professional Development University: </b>Invest in Your Future: You Are Worth It
April 28, 2006
If professional development has not found its way into a lawyer's practice and values, compliance with state CLE requirements is forcing a change. A growing number of states call upon lawyers to report their professional development activities and some states require stress management, substance abuse, or ethics education, as well as learning in a substantive area of law. There are also lessons from the larger firms: professional development is good for business and commonly used to market the firm's expertise.
Franchise Industry Must Tackle Privacy
April 28, 2006
Consumers are growing more sensitive about the privacy of their financial information, and franchisors are no different than other businesses needing to become more attentive to protecting customer data. 'Information privacy and security is one of the most fast-paced and constantly changing areas of the law today,' stated Kirk Nahra, chair, Wiley Rein & Fielding's privacy practice, in a conference call on April 20, targeted specifically to the privacy challenges that franchises face.
Is 'No Use' Always a 'Fair Use'?
April 28, 2006
In order to avoid liability for trademark infringement relating to the sale of keywords corresponding to trademarks, search engines, including Google, are attacking the concept that trademark owners should be able to protect the 'commercial magnetism' of their marks. Recently, in <i>Rescue.com v. Google, Inc.</i>, No. 5:04-CV-1056 (N.D.N.Y.), Google argued that the trademark laws 'are not meant to protect consumer good will [sic] created through extensive, skillful, and costly advertising.' Google's Reply Brief at 4 n.4 (2005) (citing <i>Smith v. Chanel, Inc.</i>, 402 F.2d 562, 566 (9th Cir. 1968)).
A Tale Of 'He Said, e-Said'
April 28, 2006
Do e-commerce clients really understand when they cross the imaginary boundary where the law stops and the ambiguity begins? In other words, do lawyer and client realize what each knows ' or thinks he or she knows ' about Internet law, on the one hand, and the realities of online business, on the other hand? Do clients realize how much lawyers don't know about e-commerce law and business, and how much law hasn't yet been developed?
Surveys in Patent Infringement Litigation: The Next Frontier
April 28, 2006
Most experienced intellectual property attorneys understand the significant role surveys play in trademark infringement and other Lanham Act cases, but relatively few are likely to have considered the use of such research in patent infringement matters. That could soon change in light of the recent admission of a survey into evidence in <i>Applera Corporation, et al. v. MJ Research, Inc., et al.</i>, No. 3:98cv1201 (D. Conn. Aug. 26, 2005). The survey evidence, which showed that 96% of the defendant's customers used its products to perform a patented process, was admitted as evidence in support of a claim of inducement to infringe. The court admitted the survey into evidence over various objections by the defendant, who had argued that the inducement claim could not be proven without the survey.
