In light of a recent New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division decision, it is possible for an employer to be held liable to third parties harmed by its employee if the employer has reason to know that the employee is engaging in Internet conduct that is potentially harmful, yet fails to take remedial action.  Read the rest of this entry »

While initially conceived in 1984 to punish hackers and safe guard classified financial and credit information relating to government and financial institutions, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (the “CFAA”) has evolved over the past two decades to reflect emerging technology in the areas it was created to protect. Specifically, the CFAA affords employers civil remedies which can be applied to workplace and unfair competition disputes by (1) providing employers with federal court jurisdiction over such disputes and (2) allowing employers to bring a CFAA claim without proving that the information fraudulently acquired was a trade secret, constituted confidential or proprietary information or breached an employment contract, confidentiality agreement or non-compete agreement. Read the rest of this entry »

Increasingly, anonymous bloggers are posting damaging and sometimes libelous comments directed against others on the Internet. However, identifying an anonymous blogger is not easy. Federal law requires an ISP to notify a blogger upon a demand for his identify. Courts typically become involved when an Internet Service Provider (ISP) files suit to ask relief from the demand or the blogger files a John Doe suit to maintain his anonymity. Read the rest of this entry »

On April 30, 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a unanimous decision in a case that appears to raise the bar for establishing patentability of inventions in the U.S. The case, KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., suggests that it is now more difficult to obtain patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and to enforce patents in federal courts. Read the rest of this entry »

Patents protect the utility of new and useful inventions as well as ornamental designs of articles of manufacture. In particular, utility patents cover machines, products and processes (including methods of doing business), and design patents protect the visual impression or “look” of an article of manufacture. A patent enables its holder to prevent others from making, selling or using the subject matter covered by the claims of the patent. Read the rest of this entry »

The Supreme Court’s decision in MedImmune v. Genentech, 127 S.Ct. 765 (2007), permitted MedImmune to challenge Genetech’s drug patent before breaching its patent license with Genentech.

Historically, breach of a patent license restrained licensees from challenging patents on invalidity grounds since patent holders could retaliate against those who willfully breached a patent license with an injunction and seek money damages. The new standard in MedImmune removes that risk. However, this new threat to patent holders is offset by the expense of challenging a patent in court.

The International Trade Commission (ITC) was created under the 1930 Tariff Act to prevent U.S. merchandise knockoffs from entering the country in violation of patent rights. U.S. companies with foreign manufacturing operations can fall into the commission’s jurisdiction. Read the rest of this entry »

A Texas federal district judge recently denied Z4 Technologies Inc.’s request to enjoin Microsoft from selling, making and using its infringing Windows and Office products. The ruling appears to be the first case to apply the holding in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., 126 S.Ct. 1837 (2006).  The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in eBay ended the presumption that an injunction should be issued almost automatically when a patent infringement is found.  Read the rest of this entry »

In the early days of the Internet, enterprising and oftentimes unscrupulous persons would reserve domain names that were the same as or similar to the trade names and trademarks of others and then offer to sell those domains, at high fees, to their “rightful” owners. This practice was known as “cybersquatting.” The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999 (ACPA) was enacted to combat such activity. Read the rest of this entry »