Technology

Expert Analysis

• Muddy Road Ahead For Autonomous Vehicle Liability In EU

  

  The product liability regimes related to driverless cars in various European countries remain far from harmonized, and lawmakers trail behind the fast-moving reality. As the European Commission works to update the European Product Liability Directive, evolving legal definitions of "producer," "product" and "defect" will be vital for the industry, say attorneys with Jones Day.

• What We Heard At The FTC Hearings: Day 1

  

  Last week, the Federal Trade Commission began a series of public hearings on competition and consumer protection issues. Attorneys with Perkins Coie LLP offer some key takeaways from the three panel discussions.

• Fed. Circ. Case Steers Agencies Toward Commercial Vendors

  

  The Federal Circuit's decision last week in Palantir v. U.S. breathed new life into the government’s obligations to prioritize the acquisition of commercial and nondevelopmental solutions. It may prove to be one of the most significant procurement precedents of the decade, say attorneys with Arnold & Porter.

• Tips For Tech Cos. Developing Event Sponsorship Deals

  

  IBM recently partnered with the U.S. Open to offer tennis fans a digital experience. This type of deal offers numerous benefits, but companies seeking to leverage their innovative technology in exchange for sponsorship packages should be aware of certain legal issues, say Leon Medzhibovsky and Airina Rodrigues of DLA Piper.

• Calif.'s New Rules For Lawyers Move Closer To ABA Model

  

  The first comprehensive overhaul of California's Rules of Professional Conduct in nearly 30 years becomes operational on Nov. 1. Some of the new rules mirror the model language used by the American Bar Association, but many continue to reflect California’s unique approach to certain ethical questions, says Mark Loeterman of Signature Resolution LLC.

• Tallying Repetitive Inter Partes Review Challenges

  

  We analyzed the petitioning practice of the top five filers of inter partes review — Apple, Samsung, Google, Microsoft and LG — and it is clear that serial, overlapping petitions are commonplace at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, even by a single entity, say Steven Carlson and Ryan Schultz of Robins Kaplan LLP.

• Know The Limits To Atty Public Statements During A Trial

  

  The balancing act between protecting attorneys’ speech rights and ensuring unbiased adjudications was highlighted recently in two cases — when Michael Cohen applied for a restraining order against Stephanie Clifford's attorney, and when Johnson & Johnson questioned whether a Missouri talc verdict was tainted by public statements from the plaintiffs' counsel, says Matthew Giardina of Manning Gross & Massenburg LLP.

• Opinion

  Dockless Scooter Cos. Rewarded For Bad Behavior

  

  The proliferation of dockless scooters throughout the U.S. has given life to the slogan “move fast and break things” in a way that even the slogan’s progenitor, Facebook, never imagined. And it will be an uphill battle for riders to recover from either the rental companies or cities in the event of injury, says Tamara Kurtzman of TMK Attorneys PC.

• Opinion

  FTC's Public Hearings Will Be Valuable

  

  On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission began a series of hearings on competition and consumer protection in the 21st century. These events are an important first step in guiding enforcement priorities, says David Balto, a former policy director of the FTC Bureau of Competition.

• Taiwan Digital Tax Law Leaves Open Questions For Corps.

  

  Taiwan introduced a number of significant income tax reforms this year, including becoming the first regime in the world to levy income tax on the cross-border digital economy. The most significant issue regarding this new tax on e-service suppliers is the substantial uncertainty as to its scope and applicable rates, say Michael Wong and Dennis Lee of Baker McKenzie.