Technology

Expert Analysis

• 4 Things FTC Competition Bureau Looks For In White Papers

  

  Most written advocacy to the Bureau of Competition is of an extremely high quality, but sometimes we notice that there’s some room for improvement, says Daniel Francis, an associate director at the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition.

• Digital Asset Securities Statement May Be Missed Opportunity

  

  The long-anticipated joint statement issued earlier this month by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority reminds entities effecting transactions in digital asset securities of broker-dealer compliance requirements with regard to custody, but falls short of providing actionable guidance, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• An Important Step Forward For Driverless Car Tech Standards

  

  A white paper recently published by some of the world's largest car manufacturers, tiered suppliers and technology companies starts the conversation about developing technical standards for automated driving systems and will facilitate development of the federal regulatory framework, say Nicole Crowley and Jonathan Fabozzi of Goldberg Segalla.

• Before The DST Settles: What To Know About UK Digital Tax

  

  With the introduction of detailed legislation on July 11 for what the United Kingdom considers to be “a targeted, proportionate and temporary tax,” the U.K. hopes to keep the pressure on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for a comprehensive consensus-based solution to a digital services tax, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

• Preinstitution Submissions May Limit Certain ITC Probes

  

  Following recent rule changes, U.S. International Trade Commission determinations and decisions by the Federal Circuit, proposed respondents may be able to prevent or limit the scope of ITC Section 337 investigations if they act quickly using various types of preinstitution submissions, says Michael Doane of Miles & Stockbridge.

• Remembering Justice Stevens As A Law Firm Leader

  

  Rothschild Barry's John Coffey, who joined Justice John Paul Stevens' law firm in 1965, shares what it was like to watch Justice Stevens practice law, mentor younger lawyers and land a malfunctioning plane.

• 5 Takeaways From DOJ Focus On Chinese Trade Secret Theft

  

  Since its official announcement of the China Initiative eight months ago, the U.S. Department of Justice has publicized the initiation of six new cases that include references to both trade secrets and China. These shed some light on DOJ and U.S. business priorities, says Sara O’Connell at Pillsbury.

• Data Analytics Decision Highlights Product Liability Questions

  

  In Rodgers v. Laura & John Arnold Foundation, a New Jersey federal court recently held that a public safety assessment based on data analytics was speech rather than a product. The decision suggests that consumers led astray by analytics may want to consider remedies outside of product liability law, say Davis Walsh and Richard Beaulieu of McGuireWoods.

• Considerations Before Relying On AIA Prior User Rights

  

  While prior user rights under the America Invents Act may lead a company to elect trade secret protection over patent protection for the potential cost savings, there are important caveats, says Karam Saab of Kilpatrick Townsend.

• IP Protection Still Elusive For Data Compilations In US And EU

  

  As businesses continue to increase investment into artificial intelligence systems, questions arise as to whether they can own or legally protect data compiled by those systems. Currently, in the U.S. and EU, obtaining copyright protection for databases is difficult and trade secret protection requires policies and procedures to establish rights, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

• Answers To Key Legal Finance Ethics Questions

  

  While there is discussion in some quarters about new regulations on commercial legal finance, the hands-off approach taken by the majority of courts and legislatures is an implicit recognition that it is already sufficiently regulated, says Danielle Cutrona of Burford Capital.

• Tips For Avoiding Multistate HIPAA Data Breach Lawsuits

  

  A recent settlement between Medical Informatics Engineering and 16 states appears to be the first state mass action based on purported Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violations. It signals increased state-level exposure for HIPAA data breaches and offers a useful compliance checklist for HIPAA-covered entities, say Saad Gul and Michael Slipsky of Poyner Spruill.

• Federal Agencies Need A Uniform Record-Keeping Process

  

  The administrative record is very important to federal agency litigation — as showcased in last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census — yet there is no set of consistent principles to guide agencies in compiling these official records, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• State Net

  Local Governments Push To Regulate Public Surveillance

  

  San Francisco's Board of Supervisors recently approved an ordinance banning the use of facial recognition technology by all city departments. The law is part of a growing movement among localities and states to increase oversight of the use of surveillance technologies by government entities, says Korey Clark of State Net Capitol Journal.

• The Role Of Dictionaries In Last Term's High Court Decisions

  

  Since 32 of the 67 decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court during its October term cite dictionaries, it’s worth reviewing the opinions to learn which dictionaries the justices consulted and how they used them, say Bruce Wessel and Brian Weissenberg of Irell & Manella.