Features
Supreme Court Revisits Test for Deciding Obviousness
The U.S. Supreme Court has recently shown an interest in intellectual property in general and patents in particular. Most prominent among the recent cases is <i>KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc.</i>, which presents perhaps the most difficult question in substantive patent law: When is the subject of a patent application a true 'invention' ' that is, something that promotes the progress of a useful art sufficient to warrant giving the applicant exclusive rights to the technology claimed for the next 20 years. Conversely, when is the invention 'obvious' ' merely taking a step that anyone of ordinary skill would take, confronted with the same problem and possessing all the knowledge already known to the field?
Features
Technology in Marketing
First came business card exchanges, then networking events, then law firms became more organized and developed marketing databases to keep track of all clients, potential clients, referral sources and mailing lists. Then along came Client Relationship Management systems otherwise known as CRM. Now we have ERM (enterprise relationship management), RCM (relationship capital management) and more acronyms than you can shake a stick at. No matter what the new technology, the bottom line persists: Lawyers need to maintain and grow their world of relationships in order to be successful and generate revenue.
Features
Music Publisher Concerns over Viral-Video Sites
The Internet has presented numerous challenges to the music industry. Unlicensed digital downloading has been at the top of the list for several years. More recently, the use of music on viral-video Web sites has produced a new set of challenges. Three of the four major record labels have struck content deals with mega-viral-video site YouTube, as have two of the three major TV networks. But music publishers haven't been involved in significant direct viral-video-site negotiations. In the following interview, conducted by Entertainment Law & Finance Editor-in-Chief Stan Soocher, Keith C. Hauprich, Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs for Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company, Inc., discusses music-publishing concerns in the viral-video age. As General Counsel for one of the world's largest independent music publishers, Hauprich's responsibilities include coordinating relationships with outside counsel, overseeing the due-diligence process and playing an integral role in finding new business opportunities for the company.
Features
e-Commerce Attorney-Client Privileged Records Have a Right to Die Too
e-Commerce records may have less legal protection from disclosure than traditional commerce records ' a situation that might cause some concern for e-commerce company principals, their counsel and customers ' even after the companies, and the law firms representing them, no longer exist.
Features
What's Your <i>IQ</i>?
Transactional attorneys must ask and answer a deep and relevant question: 'On what does it depend?' If, as Sir Francis Bacon wrote, knowledge is power, then the answer to that 'what' in the question lies in an attorney's information quotient, or IQ.
Features
Your Best Worker Can Become Your Worst Nightmare
Although difficult to imagine, your best worker may hold the key to your company's worst security nightmare. Technologically armed employees who routinely use BlackBerry devices, personal digital assistants, laptops, and tiny flash drives to transport critical information to and from the office can wreak havoc on a corporation '' with no intention to do so.
Features
DMS Matter-Centric Architecture Update: One Year Later
Modern Document Management Systems (DMS) provide ways of creating structures for organizing content that go beyond old-fashioned 'folders.' 'WorkSpaces' can contain folders (static containers for content) and stored searches (dynamic, predefined ways of finding current content that meets specific search criteria) organized under 'Tabs.' Security and metadata (document-specific profile information) can be assigned to different levels of the structure, and lower levels can be set to 'inherit' higher-level security and metadata values.<br>In a law firm environment, it is natural, considering the way matters are handled and taking into account important business processes (including new matter opening procedures and records management requirements), that each matter be allocated a WorkSpace ' leading to the 'Matter-Centric' architectural paradigm.
Features
Document Assembly Automation
When an attorney is creating work product, a document assembly product is in order. It's the perfect tool to bring together needed information that is otherwise often stored in incongruent systems such as document management systems, other documents and Internet resource sites. Attorneys and legal staff need to leverage a firm's library of past work, while eliminating the frustrating tasks of endless cutting and pasting and hunting for source documents.<br>However, without a document assembly application, the law firm's clients are paying billable attorney hours to search for the information they need.
Features
The Bleeding Edge of Change: Getting Control of Client Files
Lawyers are not necessarily known for being cutting-edge adopters of technology, particularly those in small- to medium-sized firms. In fact, it's more of a bleeding edge, as lawyers in all size firms are being painfully thrust into using sophisticated technology solutions to manage cases along with all the attendant print and electronic records. A comprehensive and reliable enterprise-wide electronic records management system is critical for tracking, storing and retrieving client files to reduce ethical, malpractice and compliance risks for law firms.
Features
A Financial Expert's View on e-Discovery and Financial Expert Challenges
In this edition, we offer you the first of a two-part article on the challenge of financial experts as witnesses in cases in which e-discovery is relevant. This month, our expert author from PricewaterhouseCoopers provides an overview of how a financial expert can help counsel in e-discovery and litigation strategy.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- The Article 8 Opt InThe Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.Read More ›
- The Anti-Assignment Override ProvisionsUCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?Read More ›
- Chambers & Partners: What's New After SaleOn Nov. 10, 2023, Abry Partners, a leading North American middle market private equity firm, announced that it had acquired Chambers & Partners for $449 million from Inflexion, the UK private equity firm that purchased Chambers in 2018. What will this mean?Read More ›
- Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult CoinWith each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.Read More ›
- Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright LawsThis article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.Read More ›