In a pair of unanimous decisions issued today, the United States Supreme Court has substantially lowered the bar for the prevailing party’s recovery of attorneys’ fees under § 285 of the Patent Act. 35 U.S.C. § 285 provides that a prevailing party may recover attorneys’ fees in an “exceptional case ...
Even if the parties determine that a proposed transaction is not subject to the requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (the “HSR Act”),1 the parties should take note of the recent activities and current views of agency staff regarding investigations of non-reportable transactions. Almost 20 percent of merger investigations opened by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) between 2009 and 2013 related to non-reportable transactions ...
The Federal Circuit today overruled a federal district judge and held that Oracle’s API computer source code qualifies for copyright protection, potentially breathing new life into Oracle’s billion-dollar lawsuit against Google. Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc., Case No. 13-1021 (Fed. Cir. May 9, 2014) ...
Prompted by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision in National Association of Manufacturers, et al. v. SEC, et al. (D.C. Cir. April 14, 2014), which held a portion of the conflict minerals rule (the “Rule”) invalid on First Amendment grounds, the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued updated guidance on April 29, 2014 relating to upcoming Form SD filing obligations ...
Accessing the lucrative market of Macau is on every foreign investor’s radar. Though challenges regarding corporate structure and registration, real estate, employment, litigation and licensing appear intimidating, a good understanding of local practice ensures a smooth and solid transaction. The Chinese gaming enclave of Macau has experienced another boom last year, far beyond analysts’ wildest dreams ...
A shareholder of a major public hotel corporation recently filed a derivative suit against several of the company’s officers and directors alleging they violated their fiduciary duties, wasted corporate assets, and were unjustly enriched in connection with three separate data breaches between 2008 and 2010 ...
On May 4, 2014 the Commission for Compensation and Royalties of the Israeli Patent Authority (the "Commission") rendered a decision relating to an employee's request to receive royalties for service inventions (the "Decision"). The Decision reduces the uncertainty that had surrounded the nature of an employee’s right to receive royalties for service inventions, and provides important guidelines for examining employee royalty waivers in agreements between employers and employees ...
On 24 March 2014, the Competition Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) issued its long-awaited decision in The Competition Commission and South African Breweries and Others. The original complaint against South African Breweries (“SAB”) and its Appointed Distributors” (“ADs") was lodged with the Competition Commission (the “Commission”) nearly ten years ago, referred to the Tribunal nearly seven years ago, and has been the subject of various interlocutory disputes ever since ...
Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”), it is unlawful for companies to bribe or make corrupt payments to officials of foreign governments or of any “instrumentality” thereof. However, what entities are included as instrumentalities of a foreign government is not defined in the FCPA and there has been intense disagreement over the breadth of the term ...
On May 7, the Fourth Circuit held that the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus Capital Group, Inc. v. First Derivative Traders, 131 S. Ct. 2296 (2011), did not apply in the context of a criminal prosecution for a violation of Rule 10b-5. See Prousalis v. Moore, No. 13-6814, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 8584 (May 7, 2014) ...
There was a fascinating article on the late Wally Olins (brand guru and co-founder of the firm Wolff Olins) in The Economist recently. The piece brings home just how much Olins’s thinking has shaped trade mark law and practice over recent years. Here are just a few examples: ‘G.K. Chesterton got it half right: when people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing. They believe in brands ...
As noted in our alert dated May 12, 2014, the National Association of Manufacturers, et al. requested on May 5, 2014 an emergency stay of the conflict minerals rule (the “Rule”) or at a minimum, a delay of the June 2, 2014 filing deadline for Form SD. On May 14, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the “Court of Appeals”) denied the request to stay the Rule or the filing deadline ...
If you like having options in obtaining patent rights faster, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has been eager to please in the last decade. Expediting a patent application can be highly desirable since the average pendency from filing to issuance is about three years on average, and can be even longer in certain technology areas or if an appeal to the Patent Trial & Appeal Board is required ...
Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”), a prominent proxy adviser, has issued a report urging Target Corporation’s shareholders to oust seven of the company’s directors for “failure to provide sufficient risk oversight” on cybersecurity. The ISS report is the latest blow to the beleaguered company, which was the victim of a data breach that resulted in the compromise of 40 million credit and debit card numbers ...
On 1 January 2015, an amendment to the VAT Act is to become valid. Its main objective is to implement EU regulations. The main change concerns the place of performance in the case of telecommunication services, TV and radio broadcasting services and services electronically provided to persons who are not obliged to pay the tax. All these services will be taxed in the country of the recipient of the relevant service ...
In a commentary piece published in Australia’s leading online media law publication, partner and head of our media practice Peter Bartlett argues that Australia already has laws to protect serious invasions of privacy and warns against the effect on reporting that a statutory right to privacy would have. He writes: The reality is that Australia has many laws that already protect an individual’s right to privacy ...
International infringers are notoriously difficult litigants to get in touch with; all too often the methods of service routinely available in the United States to serve defendants and bring them into court to halt infringement fail when exported overseas. The defendants in these cases often have little incentive to cooperate with either the court or whatever physical mechanism or service might be available in their jurisdiction ...
At the turn of the 21st century, various high-ranking Federal Trade Commission (FTC) officials stated that the Federal Trade Commission Act does not create requirements for what data-security measures companies must enact to ensure that private information is protected. The FTC Act’s catch-all prohibition against “unfair” or “deceptive” acts or practices, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), was not believed to cover the data-breach and cyber security domain ...
As a firm with deep roots in Western Canada we can assist you in navigating the laws and regulations to establish, acquire or invest in a business operating in the region. Western Canada is among the most robust economic areas of the country with extensive resource activity in energy, mining and forestry. This guide has been prepared by Lawson Lundell as a concise resource outlining certain key relevant laws and regulations that companies should consider when doing business in Canada ...
In Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc., issued on June 2, 2014, the Supreme Court established a new legal test to determine whether a patent claim satisfies the definiteness requirement of 35 U.S.C. Section 112 ...
On 29 May 2014, INTELEKTIV 2014, an international conference on intellectual property was held in Zagreb. The event gathered leading intellectual property experts from Croatia and Europe to discuss their challenges in dealing with the protection of IP rights in business. Public officers, customs officers, state attorneys and SEE enforcement protection officers assembled to create an open platform for open dialogue ...
Shepherd and Wedderburn is particularly pleased to welcome the introduction to the Scottish Parliament of a Bill that will allow businesses and individuals to create effective contracts and finalise agreements and other documents more speedily, having played a central role in its conception, and its content ...
