Executive Summary New regulations for pipeline construction, safety and transportation issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which is an agency of the Department of Transportation (DOT), will become effective October 1, 2015. The hodgepodge of miscellaneous Continue Reading
Federal Circuit Rules Launching a Website or Other Advertising Alone Is Not Service Mark “Use”
Launching a website or other advertising alone is not enough to prove “use” of a service mark. You must actually render the services you claim in connection with your service mark before you file your federal use-based registration application or statement of use. The Federal Circuit has Continue Reading
Ten Pillars to a Productive Mediation: An Attorney’s Guide
Mediation of disputes is growing, as more courts looking to clear congested dockets suggest or command mediation during the course of a litigation, and more parties wary of the cost, time, uncertainty, and publicity of a lawsuit seek a quicker and less expensive alternative. To execute these Continue Reading
Employers: Properly Administer Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans, or You May Be Held Liable to Participants for Adverse Tax Consequences
An employer’s liability to retirees for “improper” FICA tax withholding illustrates the importance of diligent administration of nonqualified deferred compensation plans. In the recent case of Davidson v. Henkel Corp.,1 a federal district court found an employer, Henkel Corporation Continue Reading
Inter Partes Review Proceedings Continue to Be an Efficient and Effective Way to Address Patent Infringement Allegations in Light of a Recent Federal Circuit Decision
Executive Summary A recent court decision suggests that it may be even easier to invalidate patent claims via a relatively quick proceeding before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) – known as inter partes review (“IPR”) – as compared with traditional litigation. The Federal Continue Reading
SBICs Given Additional Flexibility to Structure Their Investments
Summary The Small Business Administration (SBA) adopted revisions to its regulations, loosening its prohibition on small business investment companies (SBICs) investing in passive businesses. Under the revised regulations an SBIC can now structure its investments through a second passive holding Continue Reading
Private Equity Websites and General Solicitations: A Case of Overzealous Hypersensitivity?
It’s a well-settled law of physics: for every action, there’s a reaction. In some cases, there’s overreaction – generally best avoided, but a phenomenon to which many private equity funds may have fallen victim. Here, we examine ways that private funds can utilize their websites and generally market Continue Reading
Online Brand Enforcement – A New Strategy for Protecting Luxury and Fashion Brands in the Digital Space
Technology, like fashion, is always changing. For fashion and luxury brands, this means that traditional geographic boundaries for marketing, distribution and sales have been rendered largely meaningless. Fuelled by the increasing advances of the Internet for online sales and advertising, as well as Continue Reading
Flying Under the Radar—Secrecy in US Trademark Filings
Susan Goldsmith and Scott Smedresman authored "Flying Under the Radar - Secrecy in US Trademark Filings," which appeared in the February/March edition of World Trademark Review The US Patent and Trademark Office’s publicly available trademark database can make it extremely challenging to maintain Continue Reading
When Your Data Goes Viral: Insurance for Data Breaches
Is there insurance coverage when a company's data goes viral? Maybe. This article explains the traditional insurance products that may provide a policyholder with insurance coverage for data breaches, and some of the newer products available to policyholders for these risks. It also considers the Continue Reading