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Will Willful Infringement Now Wilt aWay? ( September 2004 )
The "willful" infringement of a patent enables the plaintiff to collect treble damages, as well as attorneys' fees. On September 13, 2004, in <i>Knorr-Bremse Systems Fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH v. Dana Corp</i>., the Federal Circuit overturned 18 years of precedent on how to establish willful infringement in patent cases. After reviewing about 24 <i>amicus curiae</i> briefs, the virtually unanimous <i>en banc</i> court held that when the attorney-client privilege and/or work-product privilege is invoked by a defendant in a patent infringement suit who had sought advice on infringement, it is inappropriate for the trier-of-fact to draw an adverse inference with respect to willful infringement when the opinion is withheld. -
The Legal Checkup - Preventative Medicine for Good Corporate Health ( September 2004 )
Health-care providers generally encourage their patients to have regular checkups to spot potential problems before they develop into irreversible, or untreatable conditions. Periodic "legal checkups," or audits, which draw on preventive law techniques, can help corporations (such as hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, laboratories, physician groups, and therapists) anticipate, and guard against, potential legal problems, liabilities, and excessive costs. -
Evaluating Experience: The Key to Successful Selection of Outside Counsel ( July 2004 )
Beyond simply covering their employer's legal exposure, in-house corporate counsel increasingly must consider the public relations, financial and personal implications associated with getting the right or wrong advice from outside counsel. FindLaw® recently launched the Thomson Legal Record, a first-of-its kind resource designed to help in-house corporate attorneys make more informed decisions when hiring outside counsel. TLR enables users to research and verify an attorney's realworld litigation experience by combining a high-level view of an attorney's litigation history from Westlaw, an attorney's West Legal Directory® profile, and published articles on FindLaw.com. -
Legal Department Priorities and Time Allocation: Who's In Charge? ( June 2004 )
The slogan that corporate counsel live by is: THE COMPANY IS THE CLIENT. But with several--and oftentimes different--interests at the company, which particular party sets the company's legal priorities? -
Professionalism and Ethics: An overview of standards applicable to Delaware lawyers ( June 2004 )
This article will describe three sources of ethics applicable to Delaware lawyers: the recent rules propounded by the SEC under its directive from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; the Delaware Rules of Professional Conduct ("DLRPC"), as modified by the Ethics 2000 initiative; and the Principles of Professionalism for Delaware Lawyers. -
Court Finds Attorney-Client Privilege Waived by Failure toPreserve Evidence When IP Enforcement WasContemplated ( May 2004 )
A recent decision in the long-running battle between Rambus and Infineon Technologies over the enforcement of Rambus's patents and Rambus's role in a standard-setting organization spells dire consequences for failure to preserve evidence when litigation to enforce intellectual property rights is contemplated. The decision also articulated a duty to preserve evidence in connection with anticipated intellectual property enforcement that has potentially sweeping breadth. -
Safe Communication: Guidelines for Creating Corporate Documents That Minimize Litigation Risks ( April 2004 )
Products liability defense cases are particularly vulnerable to "bad" company documents. A company trying to manage the risks presented by bad documents needs more than a document retention program. It requires an educated work force that understands the risks that are created whenever anything is written down in the workplace, either in paper or electronic form. This article suggests a program to educate employees and raise their consciousness about the litigation risks attendant to the creation of documents. -
Asset Protection Planning ( January 2002 )
Years ago, when asset protection planning was a new concept that was not well understood, many attorneys viewed it with suspicion. Some even questioned whether it was ethical. Today, however, the tables have turned. Asset protection planning has become a well-recognized area of practice. -
The New World of SEC Enforcement ( November 2003 )
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has provided the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission with significant new enforcement tools, including new causes of action, new remedies, and new regulators.
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