Publications
On September 10, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected a disabled employee’s discrimination and retaliation claims under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§12101, et seq., and in so doing held that a rarely required job function may be deemed essential if the potential consequences of employing […]
On March 4, leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced that they’d reached agreement on a modified version of a patent reform bill (S. 515) introduced into Congress last year. If enacted, the modified bill is sure to disrupt our nation’s established patent policy and decrease our nation’s competitive edge in technology-related matters. A first […]
Patents are often overlooked as a means for a franchisor to protect its franchise system. Although almost all franchisors boast a unique and proprietary business system, few seek patent protection. For a franchisor that develops a unique business method that meets the minimum patentability requirements, a business method patent can be an integral part of […]
Many franchisors heartily dislike arbitration.It is easy to understand why.To anyone who has ever endured a protracted arbitration,conducted without regard to evidentiary rules or governing law,only to receive a mystifying (or infuriating)award that a reviewing court will simply rubber stamp,the flaws of the process are manifest.1 Certain franchisors tolerate those flaws because,even if they sometimes […]
A cradle of manufacturing and industry, Connecticut serves as home to a significant number of abandoned or partially used industrial properties.1 Plagued or stigmatized by either real or perceived environmental contamination, these legacy properties constitute Connecticut’s “brownfields.” Factories and mills that once made clocks, pins, thread, hats, buggies, guns, military ordnance, and other products in […]
Samuel Taylor Coleridge sagely observed that “often the spirits of great events stride on before the events, and in today already walks tomorrow.” Our Association’s eighty-fifth gathering at the Waldorf in honor of the Federal Judiciary was, by all measures, a great event. It is eminently fitting that Chief Judge Paul R. Michel was honored […]
Even those of us who don’t enjoy dancing to electronic music may need to be aware of a recent federal law that was enacted to target drug use at raves. The so-called “Rave Act,” or the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003, signed into law on April 30, 2003, expands the circumstances in which individuals […]
The recent designation by the Department of Energy (DOE) of two expansive regions across the northeast and southwest United States as critical electric transmission corridors illustrates the federal government’s broad reach over the siting of electric transmission lines. Under provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), the DOE is charged with conducting studies […]
A 1993 article in this Journal reported, without fanfare, a federal district court ‘s holding that a “franchisor and franchisee were legally incapable of conspiring” in restraint of trade.1 Since that time, two other district courts and two courts of appeals have echoed that decision.2
On Sept. 3, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced a $40 million settlement with Canary Capital Partners LLC (a multimillion-dollar hedge fund), Canary Investment Management LLC, Canary Capital Partners Ltd. and the managing principal, Edward Stern, for fraudulent trading of mutual fund shares. Because of suggestions that such schemes are widespread, the news […]
The president of a closely held company was personally liable for liquidated damages as a result of his refusal to pay severance benefits under an employment contract that he believed to be unenforceable, according to a ruling of the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
In the midst of still more financial scandals involving public companies, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved long-awaited corporate governance listing standards proposed by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq).
In January 2002, congress enacted and President Bush signed the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. This statue, which the Environmental Protection Agency refers to as the “Brownfields Law,” changed the liability picture for parties who face the potential for suit under the comprehensive Environmental Response, Liability, and Compensation Act, popularly known as […]
On November 29, 2000, the American Inventor’s Protection Act (AIPA) became law. While the Act contains many diverse provisions, two of the most significant provisions for companies working in the biotechnology area are publication of U.S. patent applications and provisional patent rights.
The U.S. Patent Office permits individuals, nonprofit organizations, and small business concerns to pay reduced fees during prosecution and maintenance of U.S. patents and patent applications if they claim status as a “Small Entity”. However, a U.S. court recently articulated the consequences of improperly claiming small entity status. In Ulead Systems, Inc. v. Lex Computer […]
Introduction The USPTO has adopted a rule to implement an annual practitioner maintenance fee. This rule was included in a set of proposed rules published in 2003 and the Final Rule became effective on December 17, 2008. Practitioners also will soon be able to update their entries on the USPTO roster through the OED home […]
Did you ever wonder what it might be like if a patent lawyer were to live forever? A colleague of ours named Charles Yardley Chittick recently gave it a run, and in the process established a record of 107.67, not counting leap-year extensions. Born in Newark, New Jersey on October 22, 1900, he became a […]
Reprinted with permission from the: Franchise Law Journal (Spring 1997) pp.141-142 The nine-figure jury verdict in the Meineke Discount Muffler class action (1) is a bracing reminder that franchising is full of potentially catastrophic litigation risks. The verdict will almost certainly spawn a new generation of class action suits against franchisors, with particular emphasis on […]
The Indiana Supreme Court recently disciplined a lawyer because of a footnote in his appellate brief. The footnote described a lower court opinion as “so factually and legally inaccurate that one is left to wonder whether the [court] was determined to find for” the defendant “and then said whatever was necessary to reach that conclusion.” […]
This article first published in the Libel Defense Conter’s LDRC LibelLetter, March 2000. Reprinted with permission. In a First Amendment case of first impression in Connecticut, a Connecticut Juvenile Court (Dennis, J.) held that the public had a right to attend the juvenile proceedings against Michael Skakel for the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley in […]
Nearly Twenty-five years ago, a plaintiff’s attorney informed a United States District Court judge that he was “being humble enough to ask for about $5,000,000” in attorney’s fees for his representation of a proposed class comprised of former members of the United States Armed forces who could have essentially obtained the same relief—a retroactive pay […]
When confronted with a government investigation at her institution, university counsel may set upon a course of action – or fail to take action – in good faith and with no improper intent. Nevertheless, counsel may soon find her own conduct in responding to the investigation under scrutiny by a prosecutor or regulator suspicious of […]
I had the opportunity recently to spend some time in Israel. I spoke with many Israelis and Palestinians – Israelis who served in Beirut with Ariel Sharon; Maronite Christians in Jaffe; a young female manager of a sand-bagged café in Tel Aviv; and my Israeli driver. The driver traveled with me in the West Bank, […]
Legal Times September 20, 1999 vol. XXII, no. 18 WHITE COLLAR CRIME A Practice Focus Throughout the 1990’s, companies have increasingly heeded the government’s strong urging that they become good corporate citizens and self-police. Pivotal in that effort has been the implementation of corporate compliance programs designed to prevent and detect wrongdoing. In great numbers, […]
Man says girth cost him job at restaurant Joseph Connor of New Haven filed the lawsuit last year against McDonald’s, claiming that it discriminated against him, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act. Connor, who weights 420 pounds, charges that McDonald’s violated the laws when […]
Many Connecticut biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have successfully licensed technology from universities, particularly Yale University. Engaging in licensing transactions with American universities requires knowledge of laws relating to ownership of inventions made by university staff, various National Institute of Health (NIH) guidelines and issues in patent law that affect the scope and value of licensed […]
Legal Times September 28, 1998 vol. XXI, no. 19 David B. Fein is a partner in the Stamford, Conn., office of Wiggin & Dana, where he heads the firm’s white collar defense and internal investigations practice group. Fein also teaches a class on investigations at the University of Connecticut Law School, where he is an […]
Another milestone was reached Sept. 25, in Bilski v. Kappos, likely the most important patent law case in more than 20 years. On that day, the U.S. Solicitor General, representing the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court stating that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should […]
The U.S. Supreme Court’s highly publicized Title VII decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, 129 S. Ct. 894 (2009), holding that a city cannot discard the results of a race-neutral promotional exam that had a racially disproportionate impact on minority firefighters, began its life as a series of unpublished decisions. The district court’s “path-breaking opinion” was […]
As part of the Tort Reform Act of 1986, Connecticut’s legislature required for all medical malpractice complaints a certificate signed by the plaintiff’s lawyer that a reasonable inquiry into the merits of the claim was made and that there is a good faith basis for the lawsuit. In 2005, the legislature bolstered that effort by […]