Technology

Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  DOL's New H-1B Wage Rules Disregard Congressional Intent

  

  New U.S. Department of Labor rules raise the level of education required to receive an H-1B worker visa, despite a contrary provision in the immigration statute, and creating artificially high entry-level wages that will price out statutorily qualified individuals, says Jeffrey Gorsky at Berry Appleman.

• How A Biden Administration Would Shape IP Policy

  

  While Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's intellectual property agenda would likely strengthen patent rights and international trade secret enforcement, proposals to drastically reduce employee noncompete and no-poach agreements could weaken protections domestically, say Charles Barquist and Maren Laurence at Maschoff Brennan.

• Guest Feature

  5 Ways Firms Can Avoid Female Atty Exodus During Pandemic

  

  The pandemic's disproportionate impact on women presents law firms with a unique opportunity to devise innovative policies that will address the increasing home life demands female lawyers face and help retain them long after COVID-19 is over, say Roberta Liebenberg at Fine Kaplan and Stephanie Scharf at Scharf Banks.

• SEP Users Should Jettison Antitrust For Patent, Contract Law

  

  Because the recent holdings in Federal Trade Commission v. Qualcomm and Continental Automotive Systems v. Avanci demonstrate antitrust's flaws in resolving disputes over licensing rates for standard-essential patents, users should employ contract and patent law for more flexibility in negotiations and litigation, say Erik Puknys and Michelle Rice at Finnegan.

• California Judicial Reference Can Benefit Litigants Right Now

  

  Judicial reference proceedings as an alternative to litigating in California state court offer several advantages to parties, including the ability to get a case moving amid pandemic-induced backlogs and the right to appeal a judgment in court, say Charles Correll and George Morris at King & Spalding.

• Case Law Likely Undercuts DOL's Microsoft Diversity Probe

  

  The U.S. Department of Labor is unlikely to uncover liability in its recent investigation into Microsoft’s attempt to hire more Black managers and executives, because Title VII case law supports private employers' consideration of race among other factors to enhance diversity, says Conor Ahern at Sanford Heisler.

• H-1B Revamp Creates New Complexities For Employers

  

  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s recent overhaul of the H-1B specialty occupation visa category creates a new test for whether an employer-employee relationship exists, further complicating an already nuanced process for determining what it means to be an employee, say Rebecca Bernhard, Thomas Oja and Fletcher Warren at Dorsey & Whitney.

• DOJ Guidance, Indictment Suggest Expanding Crypto Focus

  

  Read together, the U.S. Department of Justice's recently released cryptocurrency guidance and unsealed BitMEX indictment send a strong message that the government is expanding efforts to combat use of digital assets and blockchain technology for criminal purposes, say Benjamin Klein and Deborah Meshulam at DLA Piper.

• Opinion

  Lawyers Must Fight Voter Suppression This Election Season

  

  Lawyers should use their unique skill sets, knowledge and spheres of influence to fight burdensome ID requirements and other voter suppression tactics that may influence the 2020 elections, and to participate in potential post-election litigation, say CK Hoffler and Allyce Bailey at the National Bar Association.

• What Patent Prosecution Market Size Means For Cos., Counsel

  

  Pedram Sameni at Patexia explains how an estimated $8.5 billion per year patent prosecution market size could allow companies to reduce their patent spending while maintaining the relevancy and improving the quality of their assets, resulting in fewer but more targeted filings.

• 4 Enforcement Actions Highlight SEC's Focus On Earnings

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's four enforcement actions settled in the days before its fiscal year-end show the regulator is keeping an eye on issuers' earnings management and financial reporting, and demonstrate the dangers of fixating on analysts' earnings targets, says Lori Echavarria at WilmerHale.

• Why Online Mediation May Be Here To Stay

  

  Videoconferenced mediation offers several advantages and helps cases settle faster and more cordially, making it hard to imagine going back to logistically difficult in-person dispute resolution after COVID-19 restrictions are gone, says Sidney Kanazawa at ARC.

• Don't Miss USPTO's Lapsing Collaborative Search Option

  

  Freedom of Information Act data reveals that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's collaborative search programs expedite examinations, so applicants filing in both the U.S. and Korea or Japan should avail themselves of the option before its October expiration, say Dylon Register and Daniel Ovanezian at Womble Bond and Shankar Nair at Aeva.

• Opinion

  Calif. AB 5 Unfairly Forces Worker Loyalty To Employers

  

  California's A.B. 5 — which Proposition 22 on this year's ballot would override — shoehorns many workers into an employment status that requires undivided employer loyalty instead of expanding opportunities for Californians to earn a living, says Michael Nader at Ogletree.

• Early Takeaways From SEC's FY 2020 Fraud Enforcement

  

  Ahead of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's annual enforcement data release later this fall, emerging enforcement themes include fraud related to COVID-19, as well as individual accountability, misuse of reserves, revenue recognition, disclosure malfeasance and data analytics, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.