On May 11, 2016, the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 was signed into law and became effective immediately. The Act was passed overwhelmingly by Congress and creates a legal claim in federal court for theft or misappropriation of trade secrets. Most states have had trade secrets laws for years, but the federal law gives … Continued
A federal court jury in Ohio found that corporate giant DuPont’s dumping of chemicals into the Ohio River caused cancer in a man who lives near the river. The chemical, called ammonium perfluorooctanoate, is used in the manufacture of Dupont’s Teflon, Gore-Tex, and Stainmaster carpet products. Dupont denied that the chemicals caused cancer. However, the … Continued
Trademarks are registered by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (called the USPTO) as well as by state trademark offices. A federal trademark registration gives a trademark owner stronger enforcement rights than does a state registration. However, federal law places certain limits on the types of words, phrases, or symbols that may be registered … Continued
GE Funding Capital Market Services, Inc. agreed to the payment of $70 Million to federal and state agencies to settle claims of arising from municipal bond investigations, according to a report in Law360. The investigation reportedly discovered that the bidding process for the issuance of municipal bonds had been rigged and corrupted. Bond traders … Continued
Twitter, Inc. was denied summary judgment of the claims brought by a social networking patent holder, VS Technologies, LLC. In a decision rendered by Senior United States District Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the claims by VS Technologies were permitted to proceed to … Continued
The First Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision on September 14, 2011, that emphasized the elements that must be established to maintain a successful copyright infringement suit. The case was brought by Airframe Systems, Inc. against L-3 Communications Corporation. Airframe had developed proprietary aircraft maintenance tracking software in 1979. By July of 2003, the … Continued
On August 8, 2011, Walker Digital, the parent company of Priceline.com, sued Microsoft Corp and three Sony businesses over technology for storing player preferences. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Delaware. The suit claims that Walker maintains a portfolio of more than 500 patents and patent applications, including two gaming patents … Continued
Stanley Ng was arrested in California on charges arising from the Southern District of New York on August 10, 2011. Mr. Ng, a former manager of Marvell Technology Group, was charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud by allegedly providing insider information about Marvell to a consultant at expert networking firm Primary … Continued
On September 29, 2010, Bob Schuster was the sole plaintiff’s attorney to address the International Pipeline Conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The conference is considered to be the leading conference in the world for international natural gas pipeline operators—with companies in attendance from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the United States, and other countries worldwide. Schuster’s … Continued