Innocent Bystanders of Cybersquatting: Neutral Domain Name Registrars -...
Addressing for the first time the issue of whether the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), which added two cybersquatting causes of action to the Lanham Act, provides for secondary...
View ArticleSocial Media for Financial Institutions – Final Guidance
At the end of 2013, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) became the latest regulator to weigh in on social media and offered their final social media guidance. The proposed...
View ArticleCOPPA: “Knowledge-Based Authentication” Method Approved by Federal Trade...
The FTC has announced (press release) that it has unanimously approved the knowledge-based authentication method proposed by Imperium, LLC (“Imperium”) as a COPPA-compliant method of obtaining...
View ArticleGerman Federal High Court underlines the legality of a linkage between a...
According to its press release, the German Federal High Court (“BGH”) decided on 12 December 2013 (1 ZR 192/12) that Haribo was allowed to advertise raffles in which only customers who bought specific...
View ArticleCalifornia Appeals Court Holds Injury Required For Standing Under State Shine...
Recently, the California Court of Appeals, Second District, held that a plaintiff must have suffered a statutory injury to have standing to pursue a cause of action under the state’s “Shine the Light...
View Article2014 Hot Topics - What to Watch for in the New Year
As we wave goodbye to 2013 and welcome in 2014, here are a few of the issues we are tracking that could have a material impact on your business....By: Porter Hedges LLP
View ArticleMedicare Physician Fee Schedule Expands Telehealth Coverage in 2014
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently released the final rule for Medicare’s Physician Fee Schedule for 2014 Calendar Year (“CY). While physicians are expected to see a...
View ArticleThe Anonymization/De-identification Debate Moves to the FCC
As explained in our recent PrivSec blog post, on Dec. 11, 2013, a coalition of privacy advocates led by Public Knowledge filed a Petition for Declaratory Ruling with the FCC that, if granted, would...
View ArticleOMB Revises and Consolidates Rules Governing Most Federal Grants
In the final days of 2013, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released for publication long-awaited final guidance on administrative requirements, cost principles and audit...
View ArticleWebsite Activity Alone Sufficient to Confer Personal Jurisdiction Over...
Addressing whether a lower court had personal jurisdiction over a defendant found to have defaulted, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the lower court’s denial of defendant’s...
View Article2014 Resolution: Social media training for your employees
I get tired of reading stories about employees fired by their employer for some ill-conceived tweet, blog, photo or Facebook posting. Invariably, my first reaction is, “How can people be so reckless or...
View ArticleContractors State License Board Releases New Complaint Form Aimed at Illegal...
The California Contractors State License Board (“CSLB”) has released a new complaint form aimed at illegal contractor advertising. Under California Business and Professions Code section 7048, a...
View ArticleGoogle Books Is Fair Use and Provides “Significant Public Benefits” - Authors...
Since 2004, the Google Books project has scanned over 20 million books and has provided digital copies of the books to participating libraries while also creating a searchable database of books. The...
View ArticleCourt Report -- January 06, 2014
About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases. Cephalon Inc. v. Sandoz Inc. 1:13-cv-02104; filed December 31, 2014 in the District Court of Delaware...
View ArticleWalburg v. Nack: Recent Supreme Court Petition in TCPA Case Tees Up Important...
By all accounts, the number of class action lawsuits brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act against companies communicating by telephone, text, and fax has exploded in recent years. These...
View ArticleTo Stay Or Not To Stay? The UK Court Of Appeal Implements The Supreme Court...
In the August 2013 issue of the Intellectual Property Report, we reported on the UK Supreme Court’s decision in Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd v Zodiac Seats UK Ltd [2013] UKSC 46 (the “Virgin Case”). On...
View ArticleCan BlackBerry Patent a Keyboard?
Can there be a better way to start 2014 than with a patent infringement story with a Canadian twist? BlackBerry has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Typo Products LLC. If you are a believer...
View ArticleCan an Emoticon be Protected as a Trademark?
Gap Inc. and Diane Von Furstenberg’s company DVF Studio have asked the federal court in the Southern District of New York to rule on whether the heart emoticon <3 can be protected as a trademark....
View ArticleDo You Collect Californian’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII) on...
Effective January 1, companies in California and around the world must be aware of new liabilities that relate to online privacy protections including practices relating to storing personally...
View ArticleLooking Outside the Prism: How Safe are Data Transfers?
When former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, leaked documents disclosing the NSA’s mass surveillance programme, known as PRISM, he re-invigorated the debate on, and the media interest in, the validity...
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