Features
Banking group sounds alarm over potential abuse of finance gTLDs
Leading European watchdog highlights suffixes that could be snatched by ‘unscrupulous individuals’ aiming to defraud consumers of financial services, writes Nick Huber...  »
Back to the source of proprietary code laws
A recent appeal in a software trade-secrets case has lessons in store both for the legal interpretation and corporate management of the source code behind internal systems, writes Matt Packer...  »
Storing up IP hurdles for the future?
Cyberlockers could be poised to emulate the success of social networks as hubs of online communities – but are their copyright provisions effective? Jermaine Haughton finds out...  »
Twitter handles become new domain of brand litigation
Hayley Devlin of Hamlins Solicitors LLP tells Matt Packer that airtight contracts, rather than IP laws, are the best tools for preventing brand abuse caused by unauthorised transfers of social media f....  »
How IP-literate is popular culture?
Film and TV writers like to think that they’re pretty hot on the research front. But do they know their IP terminology? Matt Packer casts a critical eye over some recent examples...  »
A compulsory weakening of the patent system?
Two high-profile decisions to requisition patents from pharmaceutical companies may conflict with key provisions in international IP agreements, writes Matt Packer...  »
Obama intervenes to toughen government e-discovery rules
A crisis at the US Securities and Exchange Commission has forced national agencies to take electronic information issues as seriously as companies and law firms do, writes Nick Huber...  »
Donkey Kong and a very different kind of brand confusion
Standard branding mix-ups tend to end up in court. But there are other sagas over product names and logos that are just the result of innocent misunderstandings, writes Matt Packer...  »
Strength in fewer numbers: law firms consolidate in merger surge
For law firms aiming to exploit the global market, standalone expansion may no longer make economic sense, writes Nick Huber. Instead, many are aiming to meet their international ambitions through mer....  »
Blow for liberalisation of US law firms – but debate over issue goes on
A New York judge has dismissed a lawsuit launched to shake up the financial and management structures of traditional US law firms. Matt Packer examines the ruling, and asks: what now for America’s l....  »