Imported, Indeed. Made in USA Foundation Confronts Automotive False Advertising

Yesterday, The Made in the USA Foundation (Foundation) filed two petitions with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  The petitions requested that the FTC issue complaints, one against Chrysler (here) and the other against Ford (here), both for falsely advertising that certain automobiles they manufacture are made in the U.S. when they in fact are not. According to its website: The Made…

Geekview IP week(s) Review

CA Water District’s new domain names unfairly drown out Central Basin Municipal Water District.            It’s no mystery that California is experiencing a water crisis.  Apparently the crisis has grown so bad that one public agency resorted to diverting internet traffic away from another.  The Central Basin Municipal Water District (CBMWD) issued a press release on September 29, 2011 stating that…

Apple Tribute Infringement?

On October 5, 2011 Steve Jobs died and the world lost a great man. In honor, one of my tech friends, Eric Greenspan of Make It Work, posted the above image to his Facebook page yesterday afternoon, which I immediately “Liked.”  (Eric also took part in a moving HuffPost Tribute to Steve Jobs, which can be seen here).  Let me correct myself; I immediately loved this image. …

What do Tech Investors Want?

Last week, Google announced its plans to acquire Motorola Mobility, effecting a vertical integration from the Android operating system into hardware.  Investors responded by shaving roughly 13% off Google’s value—roughly twice as much as the NASDAQ lost and three times as much as the Dow. A few days later, HP announced its plans to shed its PC…

Legal Ethics of Cloud Computing – Part 1 (What is Cloud Computing?)

Understanding Cloud Computing and It’s Use by Lawyers The use of cloud-computing technologies and other virtual law tech by lawyers and law firms is on an upward trend. Not only are alternative law firms or virtual law firms leveraging this technology, but Big Law is also jumping into the fray, with many conventional law firms including AmLaw 100 firms taking advantage. Click here…

Have an Idea? What about a Patent?

I’m a patent attorney. As a result, I get a lot of questions from people about patents. Questions like: “Do you think this idea is patentable?”; “Do I need to hire an attorney?”; or “How much will it cost to file a patent?” I’ve always enjoyed interacting with inventors. They are often very excited about…

Google and Motorola: Concentrating Attention on Concentrated Power

Google is one of the worlds most intriguing companies.  From its humble beginnings as a search engine company, Google has leveraged its mastery of the elusive formula for monetizing web traffic into a force capable of tangling with China—making it considerably stronger than our own State Department by some measures.  Its recent announcement that it plans to acquire Motorola Mobile makes…