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Tag Archives: los angeles business litigation lawyer
The recent patent wars and patent acquisitions in the tech industry have started to worry many in the business. They worry that tech companies have moved away from their roots – technological innovation and changing the world – towards expensive and costly litigation. On Monday, we mentioned Microsoft’s $1.1 billion cash purchase of 800 AOL patents. Last fall, Google bought Motorola Mobility and its 24,000 patents for $12.5 billion in cash. Critics of these expensive acquisitions pose the question – isn’t this money that could have gone towards technological research and development instead? As a result of deals like this and of courtroom patent battles like the one going on between Facebook and Yahoo, patent reform has been in the forefront of intellectual property news. Certainly we want to protect the money and time that companies put into inventions by granting them patents, but is the current system doing that…
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Earlier in the week, we discussed some of the concerns companies have when they permit their employees to surf the web and use social media sites at work. These activities can open the companies up to malware attacks and can expose confidential company information to the world. But, it is increasingly unrealistic for companies to severely limit these activities. Indeed, for many companies, using social media for marketing and communication is an important part of the business. So how can companies avoid some of the pitfalls of social media and other workplace technologies? Create strong acceptable use policies Employees should know that they are never to represent the company in their online conduct unless, that is, an employee is acting on behalf of his or her company. It should be clear, in other words, that an employee is speaking on behalf of the company; if this is not the case,…
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Some tech companies have not been shy about using legal tools to protect their intellectual property rights. Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo and Research in Motion are several of the biggest tech companies that have been known to take competitors and alleged infringers to court over intellectual property. In contrast, fewer video game companies have exhibited this same tendency, and, in this post, we cover some of the common reasons why. Preference for open source development Taking a cue from Google’s informal motto “Don’t be evil,” many in the video game business are fans of open source technology development. These individuals and companies may be reluctant to file for copyright, trademark or patent protection out of fear that these protections inhibit the growth of the tech world by keeping new technology secret. In years past this may have been more the case, but do not let a belief that others in the…
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