The Federal Circuit revived a patent infringement case last Friday. The court held that IpVenture solely owned the patent-in-suit. An old agreement "to assign" all inventions to Hewlett-Packard hadn’t effected a present assignment. Plus H-P disclaimed any interest in the patent. IpVenture therefore did have standing to bring the case and didn’t have to join
Your General Counsel or Your Life
A field of lovely lovely lupins.
The WSJ Law Blog calls these California general counsel moves musical chairs in techland:
- Lou Lupin left Qualcomm (San Diego). Donald Rosenberg departed Apple (Cupertino). Daniel Cooperman exited Oracle (Redwood Shores).
- Mr. Rosenberg replaced Mr. Lupin at Qualcomm. Mr. Cooperman took Mr. Rosenberg’s Apple spot. And Oracle’s own Dorian
Antitrust Division: Going Straight for the Capillary
Front view of a yellow dog.
Blawgletter has poked fun at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division — most recently announcing that the Division disbanded itself because its "voluntary compliance" program had worked so well.
But how can you parody something that seems to parody itself? Just today, for example, the Division trumpeted its forcing
Quote of the Day: Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) nicknamed himself.
In 1952, Papa put these words in the mind of Cuban fisherman Santiago as he struggled with a great Marlin:
I do not understand these things, he thought. But it is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It
Lights! Camera!! Fake Lawyer Action!!!
William Shatner does p.i. lawyer ads. Perhaps he’d
star in a recruiting video for your firm too?
The NYT today has a piece on law firm recruiting videos. The new style apes YouTube material. The kids apparently LOVE IT!
But Blawgletter detects trouble in paradise. A lot of the films use actors to give
Federal Circuit Clarifies “Comprise” v. “Consist”
The patent-in-suit concerned slot machines.
The Federal Circuit held today that, in patent lingo, "comprised of" generally means the same thing as "comprising" — "including but not limited to". The term doesn’t signify "consisting of", which implies the whole of a thing’s composition. Thus, the United States comprises the South and the Midwest but consists
More Fun with the “Material Adverse Effect” Clause
The wheeler-dealers of Wall Street and private equity lately have hit the brakes. Buy-out deals with Harman International and, as we learned just today, SLM Corporation (Sallie Mae) have screeched to a halt. The cold feet purchasers cite "Material Adverse Effect" provisions that allow them, in some circumstances, to terminate the acquisition agreement.
We
Abolish Contingent Fees?
Judge Smails warns the groundskeeper about gophers.
Blawgletter thought little of an op-ed title that appeared a couple days ago in the WSJ — "Contingency-Fee Con-Men". It seemed par for the course. But the text so distracted us that we hit a towering slice. We triple-bogeyed the hole.
The gist went like this:
Third Circuit Okays ERISA Dismissal
The Third Circuit today upheld dismissal of a complaint alleging that ERISA plan fiduciaries breached their duties of prudence and disclosure by allowing participants to continue investing in their employer’s stock. The court concluded that the factual allegations didn’t support the conclusion that the fiduciaries abused their discretion in keeping Avaya stock as an investment
Verizon v. Vonage: Federal Circuit Okays Injunction, Tosses Money Award
Acting pretty durn fast, the Federal Circuit today decided Vonage’s appeal from a verdict and judgment in favor of Verizon on patents relating to Internet voice telephony. The Court appears to have upheld most of the district court’s decisions but overturned findings relating to one patent and kicked the damages and future royalties award. Verizon