Acquiring and Licensing Patents:  Does the Language of Your Agreement Provide You with Enforcement Rights?   When acquiring or licensing patents, it is important to consider whether, and to what extent, the acquisition or license conveys the right to enforce the patents through litigation.  It is also important to understand whether you have the right [...]

Universities Need to Protect Their Intellectual Property: Recent Decisions from the Federal Circuit and the United States Supreme Court That Impact Intellectual Property Agreements A number of recent Federal Circuit decisions and a decision from the United States Supreme Court have highlighted the importance of assignment clauses in the transfer of intellectual property, particularly patents, [...]

Starting January 1, 2013, any California employee who is paid, in whole or part, by commission must have a written contract that clearly sets forth the terms and conditions of the commission structure. Although Governor Brown signed AB 1396 into law in 2011, its requirements begin less than a month from now. Employers must create [...]

The Federal Circuit Puts Another Nail in the Coffin of Declaratory Judgment Actions Patent and Technology trial lawyer Stan Gibson discusses why companies will forestall initiating defensive litigation unless they are fairly certain that an infringement action will be filed. Matthews International Corporation (“Matthews”) filed an action for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief based on an accusation [...]

The Federal Circuit Continues to Struggle to Define What Constitutes Patentable Subject Matter Under Section 101 After Bilski Patent and Technology trial lawyer Stan Gibson discusses the impact of Bilski on cases involving the patentability of processes and methods. Bancorp Services, LLC (“Bancorp”) owns two United States patents, the 5,926,792 (“the ’792 patent”) and the 7,249,037 [...]

  In this article, Jon McNutt, an associate in JMBM’s Labor & Employment Group, reviews the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision concerning overtime exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act’s (the “Act”) outside salesperson exemption has been a hotly contested issue for many years.  To qualify for this overtime exemption under the [...]

Labor & Employment Client Alert California Supreme Court Sides with Employers, Confirms Much-Needed Flexibility on Meal and Rest Break Obligations By Travis Gemoets To view this article as a PDF, click here. Travis Gemoets, partner in JMBM’s Labor & Employment Group, discusses the California Supreme Court’s recent review on meal and rest break periods. For [...]