Technology

Expert Analysis

• 3 Ways US Cos. Can Take Advantage Of Tariff Exclusions

  

  As the U.S. and China continue their protracted negotiations over trade agreements, there are actions U.S. businesses can take today in an effort to mitigate damages arising out of the latest round of tariffs on Chinese imports, says Katie Roskam at Varnum Riddering.

• FAA Efforts Aim To Reduce Drone Jurisdictional Disputes

  

  Local and state laws concerning drones are widespread, but so, too, are confusion and disagreement over the extent of federal jurisdiction in this area. The Federal Aviation Administration's forthcoming remote identification rules may help resolve some of these conflicts, says Mark Dombroff of Fox Rothschild.

• How To Hire Lateral Partners More Effectively

  

  Although lateral partner hiring is the preferred method of inorganic growth among law firms, the traditional approach to vetting does not employ sufficient due diligence by the hiring firm, says Michael Ellenhorn at executive search firm Decipher Competitive Intelligence.

• How High Court May Resolve Generic '.Com' TM Issue

  

  In its upcoming U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com decision, the U.S. Supreme Court could uphold the Fourth Circuit’s ruling that generic terms can be transformed into protectable marks when combined with a top-level domain in some cases or, instead, adopt the Ninth and Federal Circuits' more stringent view requiring exceptional circumstances, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

• Justices Mull Interplay Of ERISA, Securities Laws In IBM Case

  

  At recent U.S. Supreme Court arguments in IBM v. Jander, the justices grappled with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s difficult application and its intersection with federal securities laws in considering whether plan fiduciaries must disclose inside information about publicly traded companies, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Using Multiple-Attorney Depositions After Finjan Ruling

  

  The recent patent case, Finjan v. Cisco Systems, in which a California federal court prohibited two-attorney questioning in a deposition where the parties failed to agree to it in advance, indicates that it may be better to ask permission than forgiveness when employing this deposition strategy, say attorneys at Finnegan.

• Opinion

  World Athletics Should Allow Nike's Innovative Running Shoes

  

  A close examination of Nike's controversial ZoomX Vaporfly Next% running shoes and a review of investigations by other sports’ governing bodies underline the importance of World Athletics' allowing the Vaporfly Next on the course, says Elizabeth McCurrach of BakerHostetler.

• High Court's Pass On 1 SEC Case Offers Insight Into Another

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court effectively recognized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's extraterritorial reach in denying certiorari in Scoville v. SEC. The move may foreshadow the high court's eventual ruling in Liu v. SEC, which will determine the regulator's authority to seek disgorgement, say Adam Schwartz and Russell Koonin at Homer Bonner.

• Litigation And Arbitration Are Creating A Public Cyberlaw

  

  Although criminal and civil liberties implications are at the forefront of cybercrime and data privacy cases currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, a little-noticed, but potentially important, issue is the development of public cyberlaw at the operational level by commercial lawyers in private business disputes, says Joseph DeMarco of DeVore & DeMarco.

• What To Know Before Moving Your Supply Chain Out Of China

  

  U.S. companies moving their supply chains to avoid Chinese tariffs should be aware of the complexities of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol country-of-origin determinations and the scope of U.S. Department of Commerce authority to impose tariffs on Chinese goods that originate outside of China, say attorneys at Covington.

• The Coming Storm Of Biometric Privacy Laws: How To Comply

  

  To respond to the rapidly evolving legal landscape, companies that incorporate biometric data into their business practices can take several steps to minimize the risk of privacy litigation exposure, say Jeffrey Rosenthal and David Oberly of Blank Rome.

• How Increased Stays Pending IPR May Affect Venue Choice

  

  A little over one year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in SAS Institute v. Iancu, data show a 5% increase in district court-granted stays of litigation pending inter partes review, and the grant rate disparities may influence new patent filings toward certain venues and defendants facing patent infringement claims toward others, say attorneys at Armond Wilson.

• The Coming Storm Of Biometric Privacy Laws: What To Expect

  

  While there are only three state biometric privacy laws on the books, there is a growing trend of states' introducing biometric privacy bills, many of which feature far-reaching private right of action provisions that would substantially increase the level of regulatory and litigation risk, say Jeffrey Rosenthal and David Oberly of Blank Rome.

• Adapting 4th Amendment Standards To Connected Tech

  

  An evolving view of the Fourth Amendment acknowledges that the detailed and sensitive nature of internet of things data — which is starting to find its way into courtroom evidence — requires strong privacy protections and a shift away from a blunt, either-or approach to third-party access, say Jennifer Huddleston and Anne Philpot of George Mason University.

• Fed. Circ.’s Arthrex Ruling: Unforeseen Consequences For IPR

  

  The critical and fundamental problem with the Federal Circuit's constitutional remedy for Patent Trial and Appeal Board judicial appointments in Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew is that making administrative patent judges removable at will renders them unable to preside over inter partes review proceedings consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.