CD: PR and Advertising: Where do you spend your marketing dollars?
May 17, 2005
Marketing oriented public relations and advertising have the same objectives ' to increase brand awareness and help pre-sell a product or message by achieving media exposure. Although both are effective in reaching trade and consumer audiences, there are significant differences in cost, control, and credibility. Our panel of experts will equip you with the information you need to understand the great benefits of both public relations and advertising.
Special Issue: A Roundtable Discussion on Leading Compliance Issues in the U.S. and EU
May 09, 2005
Throughout the world, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) legislation might well have had the biggest impact in corporate governance since the introduction of limited liability. To that end, jurisdictions outside the U.S. have not been idle. A recent Eversheds survey found more than 100 studies on the topic in 29 European countries within and outside the EU. Clearly, proper compliance to corporate governance guidelines is top of the list to in-house counsel across the EU, as well as the U.S. To avoid civil and criminal penalties, multinational companies have to comply with laws and principles of good governance in all of the countries where they operate. U.S. legislation attempts extra-territorial reach. That legislation is in most cases in addition to, rather than in substitution for, local law, even for NYSE-listed entities. For multinationals, then, even if SOX is the beginning of the story, it is not the end. This roundtable sought to road-test some of these issues and look to some of the U.S.'s best governed corporations to see if there is a map for the journey ahead.
'Floating' Forum-Selection Clauses: The M/S Bremen Afloat in the Wake of Norvergence
May 02, 2005
On June 30, 2004 an Involuntary Petition under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code was filed against NorVergence, Inc., the New Jersey telecommunications company. While this filing represented the likely end of a telecommunications company which, at its zenith, employed 1500 people, with more than 11,000 equipment leases in effect worth some $200 million, it also marked the beginning of litigation arising out of those leases now being waged in various state and federal courts across the country involving thousands of lessees, scores of finance companies and dozens of governmental agencies.
Patent Preparation Costs: How Low Can You Go?
May 02, 2005
According to recent statistics, approximately 342,441 utility patent applications were filed in 2003 in the United States, and 169,028 utility patents were granted. These totals have nearly doubled over the past decade. Nonetheless, patent prosecution costs have seemed to trend lower or remain flat in recent years, even as courts are requiring more and more from application drafters. Does this prosecution revenue squeeze portend an increased economic risk for the patent practitioner? Does this pose more trouble for patent quality in general? Is a market glut of patent attorneys creating downward pressure on patent prosecution costs and resulting patent quality? Besides refusing to enter into a pricing war that is ultimately bad for our patent system, patent attorneys may wish to consider implementing changes to the patent system that help improve patent quality by reducing the recent flood of patent attorneys and agents entering the market.
Intellectual Property Transfer Pricing and Taxation
May 02, 2005
Multinational companies with distributed operations and geographic centers of specialized activities tend to transfer intangibles including intellectual property assets among their various affiliates. These transfers between entities are priced at levels that approximate fair market value and are simultaneously consistent with every company's duty to maximize shareholder value. Tax authorities have long complained that multinationals are setting international transfer prices to avoid taxes by lowering income in high tax jurisdictions and raising income in low tax jurisdictions. In theory, a multinational should not suffer prejudice in such a case (beyond the payment of appropriate penalties) because international tax treaties contemplate adjustments; the underpayment would be collected and the overpayment refunded in each respective jurisdiction. As a practical matter however, there is a real risk of double taxation since sovereign tax authorities may come to disagree on transfer pricing levels.
Internet Usage Threatens Existence of Concurrent Use Registrations
May 02, 2005
In a rare concurrent use decision, <i>Hubcap Heaven, LLC v. Hubcap Heaven, Inc.</i>, Concurrent Use No. 94001147 (Jan. 25, 2005) [not citable], the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ("TTAB") questioned the continued viability of concurrent use registrations in the face of the Internet's global reach. Concurrent usage is based on the premise that two owners of the same trademark for competing goods and services can coexist by carving out strict geographic territories for each user. The Internet, however, has no geographic boundaries.
News Briefs
May 02, 2005
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
Nigerian Franchising: Making Your Way Through the Thicket
May 02, 2005
Business franchising, once principally a U.S. phenomenon, has come of age as a global phenomenon. In particular, the explosive growth of international franchising in developing economies has brought tremendous opportunities for both franchisors and franchisees. One country, however, until late, has been conspicuously absent from the list of developing countries that have benefited from franchising ' Nigeria. A massive bureaucracy and a complex web of regulations have ensured that Nigeria remains one of "the last frontiers" for international investment. However, the Nigerian government has become increasingly committed to creating a conducive atmosphere for foreign franchise investment and, with effective counseling, franchisors can effectively negotiate their way through the thicket to the lucrative market within.
Law Firms Gain, But With Big Caveat
April 29, 2005
Law firms are back ' sort of. <br>Revenues and profits were up by nearly 10% in 2004, a clear sign that firms have shaken off the tech bust slump. <br>But even as the biggest legal shops are reaping the harvest of a buoyant economy, they face some difficult choices ahead to maintain revenues ' and to grow profits.
Around the Firms
April 29, 2005
This Month:<br>Ex-Partners Sue Townsend for Cut of Fees<br>L.A. Firm Brings Johnnie Cochran Name to San Francisco
