Monday, January 29, 2007

New patent case filings in federal court increased by 4.2 percent between 2002 and 2003, continuing the upward trend that has resulted in a 130 percent increase in patent case filings from 1988 to 2003, according to a report released by LexisNexis.


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A Virginia judge declared a mistrial in an attempted-murder case and suggested the defense lawyer seek medical help after the attorney said he couldn't continue his closing statement because he had lost his train of thought. The defendant, charged with attempted capital murder, malicious wounding and use of a firearm, offered to finish the job himself.
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The Supreme Court's ruling in , which held that a patent licensee need not breach its license agreement to file a declaratory judgment action, overturned a Federal Circuit rule and will affect not only the law regarding declaratory judgment actions by licensees, but also the Federal Circuit's declaratory judgment jurisprudence generally. Morrison & Foerster's Charles S. Barquist and Jason A. Crotty examine the case's impact for both licensors and licensees.
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NEW YORK, NY UNITED STATES American Museum of Natural History 2007-01-05
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Craig Ball, EDD special master, observes that misplaced confidence in the power of keyword searches can unnecessarily burden the electronic data discovery process. He explains how the difference between a fruitful search and a failure hinges on thoughtful preparation and precaution.
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As large law firms grow larger and go international, some attorneys are departing for boutiques. Art Stroyd left Reed Smith after 32 years for a six-attorney firm. "I found more and more that I was doing fewer and fewer cases out of Pittsburgh," says Stroyd, who adds he didn't want to live out of a suitcase. Yet one recruiter says she doesn't anticipate big fallout for firms post-merger, saying larger firms are better at institutionalizing clients and companies have become used to paying higher rates.
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