Class Actions
James A. Donahue, III (Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General) reviews the current antitrust enforcement priorities of states' Attorneys General
PLI: For more than 30 years, state Attorneys General have acted as
movers and enforcers of federal and state antitrust laws. What issues
are they focusing on these days? JAMES A. DONAHUE, III: Over the next several months, state antitrust enforcement will most likely focus on certain procedural and substantive issues. The procedural issues would deal with greater communication with federal enforcement agencies and with a system for dealing with confidentiality issues in multistate and federal joint investigations. The substantive focus is going to be on resale price maintenance and price fixing and bid rigging litigation involving products that state governments purchase.
Garrett W. Wotkyns (Schneider Wallace Cottrell Brayton Konecky LLP) examines the newfound strength of the consumer in the mortgage foreclosure epidemic
PLI: There's a new front in the foreclosure epidemic: consumers fighting back. Why are they finding some success?
GARRETT W. WOTKYNS: [First,] pooled mortgages may present genuine
obstacles to foreclosure actions. On September 26, 2007, Citibank filed
a complaint against Kyle E. Coljohn (now deceased) in the United States
District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Citibank sought to
foreclose on a mortgage note valued at approximately $115,000. Five
days after the complaint was filed (and before the defendant even
appeared in the lawsuit), Judge Christopher A. Boyko ordered Citibank
to prove that it was the holder and owner of the note and mortgage when
the complaint was filed. Citibank failed to comply with the order, and
Judge Boyko dismissed, without prejudice, the complaint (along with 13
related complaints). In re Foreclosure Cases, Case No. 1:07-cv-02949-CAB, order dated October 30, 2007.
But Do Prosecuted Patents Get Fifth And Sixth Amendment Rights? Patent Prosecution For Patent Litigators
Toolbox has always fancied the term "patent prosecution," as if inventions, as opposed to people, were presumed guilty,
and lawyers (and their inventor clients) have to prove them innocent before they can be blessed as patentable. In
trying to ferret out the origins of the phrase, all Toolbox could discern was the etymology of the word "patent" (it's
from the Latin patere, which means "to lay open") and that the concept dates back to 500 B.C., although the modern
patent is more like 600 years old or so. But as for prosecution, Toolbox is sure that has to be a modern invention.
(Ha, he wrote "invention" — blasted unintentional punnery.) So we'll have to leave the history of patent
prosecution for another time. There is more important business at hand, and that is the fundamentals of patent
prosecution for a group of beginners otherwise uninitiated in the art — namely, new patent litigators.
And Where Do You Go If Your Breach Claims Are Against the Federal Courts? Contract Claims Against The Government
One thing is for sure — with 12 or 13 trillion dollars in debt floating around, there has to be a motherlode of federal
contracts work — quite possibly enough for every lawyer in America to get a slice of the representation involved.
Toolbox is even thinking of letting the Fed take over publication of this rag for a stipend...there must be a cash for
curmudgeons program tucked away in some bill. Anyway, where there's a contract, there's potential for a breach or some
other flaw in performance. But, as with every other aspect of dealing with the government, redress is not quite the
same as dealing with the company down the street.
Tarek N. Fahmi (Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP): A good IP Audit + understanding your business plan = IP aligned with business objectives
PLI: How can companies best align their IP portfolios with their business objectives? TAREK N. FAHMI: More than ever, today's corporate leaders need to understand how their companies' intellectual property (IP) assets relate to their business, its operation and its financial performance. An IP audit is one mechanism that can be used in gathering information for such analysis. Together with an understanding of the company's business plan, the audit can help to ensure that the company's IP portfolio and strategy are kept in alignment with its business objectives.
One Adam J. Levitin (Georgetown University Law Center; Robert Zinman Resident Scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute): Proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency changes the architecture, but not the mandates of consumer protection laws
PLI: Can you give us a brief overview of the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency?
ADAM J. LEVITIN: The Obama administration has proposed restructuring
financial services regulation by transferring all consumer protection
functions from existing agencies to a new Consumer Financial Protection
Agency (CFPA). The goal of the CFPA legislation is to address the flaws
in the regulatory architecture that have inhibited effective responses
to the substantive problems, rather than mandate specific new
substantive consumer protection laws.
Statement of Stockholders' Equity
Financial statement that shows the periodic changes in a company's retained earnings and capital invested in the company.
Continue reading "Statement of Stockholders' Equity"
But Do Prosecuted Patents Get Fifth And Sixth Amendment Rights? Patent Prosecution For Patent Litigators
Toolbox has always fancied the term "patent prosecution," as if inventions, as opposed to people, were presumed guilty,
and lawyers (and their inventor clients) have to prove them innocent before they can be blessed as patentable. In
trying to ferret out the origins of the phrase, all Toolbox could discern was the etymology of the word "patent" (it's
from the Latin patere, which means "to lay open") and that the concept dates back to 500 B.C., although the modern
patent is more like 600 years old or so. But as for prosecution, Toolbox is sure that has to be a modern invention.
(Ha, he wrote "invention" — blasted unintentional punnery.) So we'll have to leave the history of patent
prosecution for another time. There is more important business at hand, and that is the fundamentals of patent
prosecution for a group of beginners otherwise uninitiated in the art — namely, new patent litigators.
And Where Do You Go If Your Breach Claims Are Against the Federal Courts? Contract Claims Against The Government
One thing is for sure — with 12 or 13 trillion dollars in debt floating around, there has to be a motherlode of federal
contracts work — quite possibly enough for every lawyer in America to get a slice of the representation involved.
Toolbox is even thinking of letting the Fed take over publication of this rag for a stipend...there must be a cash for
curmudgeons program tucked away in some bill. Anyway, where there's a contract, there's potential for a breach or some
other flaw in performance. But, as with every other aspect of dealing with the government, redress is not quite the
same as dealing with the company down the street.
Going Concern
Assumption that a business will remain operational, and not liquidate, for the foreseeable future. It is the lynchpin of financial and auditing reports.
Continue reading "Going Concern"
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