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The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA): What Startups Should Know
By Brian Lam
Privacy and data security is a serious concern for many startups. They understand that end users, consumers, partners, and investors are now concerned like never before about how data is collected, used, stored and transferred. A bad data event quickly turns into a bad news story, can turn off users, discourage investors, and bring regulatory scrutiny and enforcement.
MintzEdge 101: IP Strategies For Start-Ups - Sean Grygiel (Mintz)
Sam Effron, a Member in the Mintz Venture Capital & Emerging Companies Practice and co-editor of MintzEdge, sits down with Sean Grygiel, a Member in the Mintz Intellectual Property Practice, to discuss key IP considerations and strategies for new companies.
California’s Privacy Act—Watch for an Expanding Private Right of Action
The California Consumer Privacy Act takes effect on January 1, 2020, but amendments are expected. In an article recently published by Bloomberg Law, Mintz attorneys Joshua Briones, Esteban Morales and Matthew Novian discuss the April 9 hearing on SB-561, a bill that would expand the private right of action and remove compliance opportunities for businesses, and explain why the bill should be closely watched.
How to Leverage Privacy as a Key Competitive Advantage
By Cynthia Larose and Brian Lam
“Privacy by design” – while not a new concept – is certainly enjoying a new spot in the sunshine thanks to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) (93 days and counting…) and its codification of “privacy by design and default” in Article 25.
Privacy can also be a key differentiator and a competitive advantage. Read on for some points that can help drive your data privacy/data management program.
Company “Branding” and the Benefits of Federal Trademark Registration
By Susan Neuberger Weller
Selecting and protecting your “brand” should begin from the very moment a business is in the process of being formed, whether that business is a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or some other type of entity. It makes no difference whether the entity is a for-profit or not-for-profit organization, and the size of the entity is also irrelevant. Your “brand” is your public facing identity by which you will be known and through which your reputation will be developed. The goodwill you develop in your “brand” will be one of the most important and valuable assets you own.
FTC Asked to Investigate Google’s Matching of “Bricks to Clicks”
By Cynthia Larose and Brian Lam
Recently, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (“EPIC”) asked the FTC to begin an investigation into a Google program called “Store Sales Management.” The purpose of Store Sales Management is to allow for the matching goods purchased in physical brick and mortar stores to the clicking of online ads, or as we refer to the practice, “Bricks to Clicks.”
The FTC’s Uber Consent Order: A Warning to Fast-Growing Companies
By Cynthia Larose and Brian Lam
Recently, Uber agreed to a proposed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consent order (“Consent Order”) to settle charges in an FTC complaint (“Complaint”) regarding behavior stemming back to at least 2014. Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen has stressed the implications this has for other companies:
Key Considerations for Adopting Ephemeral Communications Tools
By Adam Lenain
The combination of emerging technologies, information security risks and electronic discovery obligations continues to give rise to questions regarding best practices for adoption of modern ephemeral communication tools in lieu of more traditional forms of communication, particularly in the context of probable or pending litigation. Many businesses now employ various instant messaging systems, and employees routinely send work-related text messages and interact over collaboration applications--some of which enable automatic, or time of life, expiration and deletion of information (referred to as “ephemeral” communication).
Software Is Still Patent Eligible
By Mike Van Loy, Mike Renaud, Sandra Badin, Matt Karambelas, and Nick Mouton
In recent years, software patents have come under fire from legislation (the American Invents Act) that has generally made patents easier to invalidate, and from court decisions (the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice v. CLS Bank[1] and its progeny) that have made computer-implemented inventions more vulnerable to subject matter eligibility challenges.
Patents 101: Protecting Innovations
By Michael Van Loy and James Cleary
A deeper dive into the importance and value of patents and the process to get one – from filing through issuance.
What is Intellectual Property, and Why is it Important?
By Peter Snell
IP 101: This deck gives entrepreneurs the “need-to-know” information about trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets.
Top Ten Reasons Why U.S. Trademark Searches are Important to Every Business
By Susan Neuberger Weller
The importance of a comprehensive trademark search for a new company name and for a new trademark cannot be overstated. It is vital that companies at all stages stay mindful of the pitfalls in naming any new product or component.
Do You Really Own Your Employee's Knowledge?
By Jen Rubin
So it may seem like a ridiculous question. Who can own a thought? But it is a bit more difficult to answer this question from a legal perspective than you may think.
Trademarks and Surnames: Why Can’t I Use My Own Name?
By Susan Neuberger Weller
There are many “myths” that float about in the general public about what can and cannot function as a trademark. Under US trademark law, a mark which is “primarily merely a surname” cannot be protected as a trademark without proof that it has “acquired distinctiveness.”
The Top 5 Reasons an Employer Will Enforce Your Non-Compete Agreement
By Jen Rubin
Non-compete agreements are a common part of the business world these days. But just because you sign a non-compete agreement doesn’t mean your employer will enforce it (or try to enforce it) after you leave your current job. I’m an employment lawyer and one of the questions my individual clients ask me most frequently is not whether a non-compete agreement is enforceable (which is typically a fairly complex legal question to answer) but whether the former employer will try to enforce it.
When Can You Claim A Color As Your Trademark?
By Susan Neuberger Weller
In its decision in Christian Louboutin S.A. v. Yves Saint Laurent America, Inc., the Second Circuit held there was no “per se rule that would deny protection for use of a single color as a trademark in a particular industrial context.”
What App Users Care About When Sharing Personal Data: Permissions
By Cynthia Larose and Jane Haviland
A Pew Research Center Report relayed useful information regarding application users’ concerns with sharing personal data. Ninety percent of app users indicated that how their personal data will be used is “very” or “somewhat” important to them, and influences their decision to download an app. Sixty percent of users decided against downloading an app when they saw how much personal information they would need to share. Android 6.0, or Marshmallow, should abate users’ concerns.
The (Best) Method to the Madness Behind Choosing a Company Name or Mark
By Susan Neuberger Weller
The Wall Street Journal ran a print article on July 18, 2013 titled “What’s Behind Those Quirky Startup Names?” in which the author Lindsey Gellman discussed the derivation behind unique startup names such as Mibblio, Kaggle, Shodogg, and Zaarly. One of the reasons for these types of names and spellings, she says, is the need for short, recognizable .com web addresses in a space where more mainstream domain names are no longer available
Software Audits: Strategies for Licensees
By Julie Korostoff and Joseph DiCioccio
If you have received a software audit request from your software vendor or one of the industry trade groups representing software publishers, such as the Software & Information Industry Association (“SIIA”)1 or the Business Software Alliance (“BSA”)2 you are not alone. Over the past five years, 3 software audits have become an increasingly common revenue-leakage recovery tool for software vendors.
FTC Takes Action Against Retail Tracking Start-Up Nomi Technologies
On April 23, 2015 the FTC settled deception charges against start-up Nomi Technologies, Inc. related to Nomi’s in-store, sensor-based, tracking technology.[1] This is the first FTC enforcement action against emerging retail store–based tracking technologies.
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