Intellectual Property

Expert Analysis

• A 'Smoking Gun' In Reverse-Payment Settlements

  

  The authors of a recent Law360 guest article take issue with our interpretation that in some reverse-payment cases, a stock price jump could be so telling as to merit the label “smoking gun.” They are incorrect in theory, empirically and legally, say experts at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, American University and Greylock McKinnon Associates.

• A Holistic Approach To Intellectual Property Management

  

  Several years ago, we at Husky Injection Molding Systems needed to cut legal costs without discouraging innovation or increasing risk. The system we implemented has proven key to our IP management success — and the strategy is not applicable only to us, or just to our particular industry, say Richard Musgrave, global director of legal and IP at Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd., and Neil Ferraro, chairman of Wolf Greenfield & Sa... (continued)

• Prevent Litigation From Becoming A Threat To Data Security

  

  Recent headline-grabbing data security incidents have shed light both on direct and collateral impacts to companies and their employees. Attorneys should take steps to ensure that their role in the conduct of litigation does not in itself lead to similarly damaging disclosures of sensitive information, say Dante Stella and Sherrie Farrell of Dykema Gossett PLLC.

• The 1st Post-Grant Review Decisions And What They Mean

  

  The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's first two post-grant review final written decisions may have a chilling effect for petitioners considering raising prior art systems in the context of PGR petitions, particularly where such declarations need to be obtained within nine months of a patent’s issuance, say attorneys with K&L; Gates LLP.

• OPINION: Our Juries Are Being Circumvented

  

  The Freddie Gray case and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell demonstrate how the government replaces juries, eliminating an important community decision maker and a check on governmental power, says Professor Suja Thomas of the University of Illinois College of Law.

• Trade Secret Claim Strategies: ITC Vs. DTSA

  

  While the Defend Trade Secrets Act offers both monetary and injunctive relief, the U.S. International Trade Commission offers trade secret owners jurisdiction over foreign companies and a speedier remedy, say Paul Ainsworth and Stephanie Nguyen of Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox PPLC.

• Legal Aid, Meet Legal Tech

  

  Because there will never be enough free lawyers to satisfy demand from low-income Americans, we need to leverage technology to allow the legal expertise of one lawyer to reach hundreds or thousands of clients at once, say Jonathan Petts and Rohan Pavuluri, co-founders of startup nonprofit Upsolve.

• Ways Manufacturers Can Shut Down Unauthorized Resellers

  

  While the brand owner’s legal rights with respect to unauthorized resellers of genuine products may not be as clear-cut as with counterfeit sales, brand owners do nevertheless have rights that they should consider enforcing in these situations, says Keith Slenkovich of WilmerHale.

• A Big Question For Self-Driving Car Developers

  

  For self-driving cars, it's possible to give artificial intelligence complete control over all perception and driving decisions, or AI can be used not at all or in limited ways to augment elaborate software. The choice might impact a self-driving car designer’s liability if its car crashes, say Steven Baik and Nathan Greenblatt of Sidley Austin LLP.

• Testing The UBE: Portable But Inaccurate Bar Exam Scores

  

  While there is not much that is new about the uniform bar exam’s components, what is new is that where you take the bar exam may make the difference between passing and failing. Half of the score depends on the strength of the applicant pool in the jurisdiction where the candidate wrote the exam, which may lead to “UBE shopping,” says Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus, director of bar programs at Touro Law Center.