Courts Continue to Whittle Away at Business Method Patents December 9th, 2010Patents/IP COURTS CONTINUE TO WHITTLE AWAY AT BUSINESS METHOD PATENTS Western Union Payment System Patents Found Obvious and Unpatentable by: John R. Harris The federal courts continue to whittle away at the prospects for protecting software and business methods with patents. Dec. 7, 2010 was a day of infamy for Western Union’s four patents relating to methods and systems of sending money through a financial services organization – all four patents were ruled invalid by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). The system in all four patents relates to money transfer services such as those offered by Western Union Read More
MMM’s John Yates to Chair Duke Law School Development Committee December 9th, 2010MMM Tech Law Video Channel Atlanta, GA (December 9, 2010) – John Yates, who chairs the Technology Practice at Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP, will chair the Development Committee for the Duke Law School Board of Visitors. In this role, he will help the law school’s dean and associate dean craft fund-raising strategies and provide leadership for ongoing development efforts. “I am delighted John has agreed to play such an important role for Duke Law. He will provide Dean David F. Levi and me important counsel on planning, marketing, and program development, which will define our fundraising efforts in the years ahead,” said Associate Read More
Yates Perspectives: Lessons from John Imlay and Sig Mosley Part I December 8th, 2010MMM Tech Perspectives YATES PERSPECTIVES An historic event occurred in Atlanta on the evening of November 16th 2010 — the Technology Executives Roundtable (TER) honored Sig Mosley with the first annual John Imlay Leadership Award. The remarkable event capped the outstanding careers of John and Sig and highlighted their outstanding commitment to the technology community in Atlanta. In this two-part series, I first include my introductory remarks about John and Sig presented at the TER event. My second blog post includes the key life lessons imparted by Sig and John during their fireside chat. JOHN IMLAY LEADERSHIP AWARD INTRODUCTORY REMARKS OF JOHN YATES This is a special Read More
White Paper: “Is It Technology’s Turn for the Next Black Swan Event?” December 7th, 2010MMM Tech Law Video Channel Ecommerce, Privacy/Security, Risk Management Highlights: Practical pointers on risk assessment and aggregation in preparation for a “black swan” technology crisis. Read white paper. Comments? Join the discussion on the MMMTechLaw LinkedIn group page. Read More
Groupon Accused in Lawsuit of Infringing Four Web Strategy Patents December 7th, 2010Recent Legal News Highlights: The daily coupon website, Groupon, has been sued by Florida company Ewinwin, Inc. claiming the infringement of four patents. Read article. Comments? Join the discussion on the MMMTechLaw LinkedIn group page. Read More
Exploring the Value of Social Networking December 6th, 2010Entrepreneurial Info Highlights: Generating wealth from the web. Is “follow” the new economic model poised to take on “search”? View article. Comments? Join the discussion on the MMMTechLaw LinkedIn group page. Read More
A Look at Patents On Body Scanner Technology December 6th, 2010Patents/IP A Look at Patents On Body Scanner Technology by: John R. Harris Air travel these days may be safer due in part to improved technologies for detecting weapons and explosive devices. In November, 2010, U.S. Transportation Safety Authority (TSA) began deploying whole body back scatter X-ray based scanner machines in some airports, with an “opt out” process leading to personal patdowns. The body scanner technology is controversial. Some radiology specialists have written letters to the government expressing concern about the health effects. Such letters and other articles have lead to strong expressions of paranoia and “individual righteousness” from those wanting to opt out Read More
New Q3 M&A Market View Report December 4th, 2010M & A Highlights: Report shows rise in transaction volume and number of deals in Q3 2010. View report. Comments? Join the discussion on the MMMTechLaw LinkedIn group page. Read More
New Cloud Computing M&A and Capital Markets Report December 3rd, 2010Data Centers, M & A Highlights: Report covers SaaS stock performance, YTD IPO filings and new M&A activity. View report. Comments? Join the discussion on the MMMTechLaw LinkedIn group page. Read More
FTC Staff Issues New Privacy Report December 3rd, 2010MMM Tech Law Video Channel Privacy/Security Highlights: The Federal Trade Commission has released a proposed framework for businesses and policymakers. View Report. Comments? Join the discussion on the MMMTechLaw LinkedIn group page. Read More