Technology

Expert Analysis

• What Patents' Status As Franchises Means For NPEs

  

  Placing constraints on nonpracticing entity patent holders can help safeguard patents' public benefit — a constitutional imperative highlighted by the U.S. Supreme Court's Oil States holding that patents are government franchises rather than private property, says Alan Minsk of FisherBroyles.

• Opinion

  Facebook Is Not An Illegal Monopoly

  

  A close look at Facebook’s evolving privacy policies reveals no evidence of exclusionary conduct — a requirement under U.S. antitrust laws for culpability — contrary to a recently published law review article's argument, says Kristen Limarzi of Gibson Dunn.

• ABA Rules For Departing Attys Set Unprecedented Limits

  

  Groundbreaking rules from the American Bar Association impose new standards on how law firms can govern departing lawyers’ contact with clients, placing major restrictions on this ubiquitous practice, say Amy Richardson and Hilary Gerzhoy at Harris Wiltshire.

• 11th Circ. Insurance Ruling Views Cybercrime Realistically

  

  The Eleventh Circuit's recent opinion in Principle Solutions v. Ironshore demonstrates courts' willingness to adopt a reasonable view of insurance coverage for cybercrime, while the dissent serves as a warning against outdated provisions, say Patrick Cordova and Caroline Meneau of Jenner & Block.

• Federal AI Panel Report May Help Guide New Export Controls

  

  The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence’s recommendations on the use of export controls to bolster the United States’ commercial and military position illustrates that blunt controls on artificial intelligence as a category of emerging technologies are not practical, says Hdeel Abdelhady at MassPoint.

• Weighing Trade Secrets Vs. Patents For Protecting Ideas

  

  In light of a steady rise in federal district court trade secret filings and recent case law restricting the scope of patent protection, companies should consider the relative merits of trade secrets and patents upon conception of a promising idea, say Paul Veith and Chad Schafer of Sidley.

• Nissan Ex-CEO Illustrates Do's And Don'ts Of Image Repair

  

  Lawyers can draw a number of useful lessons about reputation management from the efforts of former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn — who recently escaped house arrest in Tokyo — to restore his sullied reputation, says Elizabeth Ortega at ECO Strategic Communications.

• Justices' IBM Ruling Gives Life To ERISA Disclosure Liability

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in IBM v. Jander leaves unresolved a conflict between disclosure obligations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and federal securities laws, boosting the so-called inevitable disclosure theory for ERISA liability, say attorneys at Skadden.

• The Int'l, Federal And State Taxation Forecast For 2020

  

  Attorneys at Steptoe & Johnson look at U.S. international, federal and state taxation, including legislative, regulatory and controversy developments expected in 2020.

• 4 Cases That Will Shape Clickwrap Litigation In 2020

  

  Four recent cases involving companies' online user agreements will have major impacts on the ways courts assess evidence in such cases, the types of evidence that companies must bring in order to enforce their terms, and the types of arguments that both defendants and plaintiffs will make, says Brian Powers of PactSafe.

• Litigating FRAND Rates After Fed. Circ. Ericsson Decision

  

  After the Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in TCL v. Ericsson, which puts juries at the helm of calculating FRAND damages for standard-essential patents, litigators should focus on preparing a simplified and emotionally persuasive story and garnering the evidentiary support necessary for a favorable appeal, says Larry Sandell of Mei & Mark.

• How Associate Life Has Evolved Over The Past Decade

  

  During the last 10 years, the need to embrace change was fundamental for law firms, and that change affected associates in many ways — most, but not all, for the better, says Brad Kaufman, co-president of Greenberg Traurig.

• The New Class Action Frontier Under Illinois Privacy Law

  

  One year after a pivotal Illinois Supreme Court ruling broadened liability under the Biometric Information Privacy Act, companies in a wide variety of industries need to be vigilant of a rise in potentially financially ruinous class action filings, and there are several steps they can take to protect themselves from BIPA liability, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Fed's Real-Time Payments Idea Presents Risks, Challenges

  

  The Federal Reserve's development of a real-time payment and settlement service raises important questions related to consumer protection, litigation risk, and fraud and overdraft liability, say Ling Ling Ang at NERA Economic Consulting and Judy Mok at Ballard Spahr.

• What's Changed And What's The Same In Final CFIUS Rules

  

  The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s final rules implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act complete the revamp of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which will be more complex and better resourced to address evolving national security risks that arise in the context of foreign investments, say attorneys at Akin Gump.