Posts on ‘June 4th, 2009’

The law firm layoffs continue. McDermott, Will & Emery announced “a reduction in force” Thursday affecting 25 lawyers and 47 staff members. News of the cuts was released to the firm in a memo to all personnel from chairman Harvey Freishtat. Thursday’s move brings the total number of attorneys who’ve lost their jobs at the 1,055-lawyer firm in recent months to 85. In February, 60 lawyers were terminated due to a drop-off in work.

Filing a patent application in the United States starts the process for protecting an invention in the U.S. But it does nothing to protect it overseas. Patent applications must generally be filed on a country-by-country basis to secure foreign patent protection, but filing applications in all of the world’s patent offices would cost close to $500,000. Foreign filing decisions can therefore have a big impact on a company’s legal budget. As in-house counsel, how should you advise corporate decision makers?

Whatever your stance toward social networking, services like invitation-only Legal OnRamp are offering viable avenues for client communication. According to consultant Brett Burney, if you can get motivated to participate in the community, the results can be profitable and rewarding.

Litigious chip designer Rambus has suffered a major setback with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s rejection of all 41 claims in seven of nine Rambus patents at issue in its International Trade Commission patent fight against Nvidia. Rambus, which relies on patent licensing for the bulk of its revenue, is known for a long-running antitrust fight with the Federal Trade Commission. Last year, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit reversed the FTC’s antitrust ruling against Rambus.

Former dean of Yale Law School Guido Calabresi has known Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor since she was a first-year law student in his torts class and has served with her on the 2nd Circuit for 12 years. Calabresi talked to The Connecticut Law Tribune about Sotomayor’s character and abilities, her manner on the bench and the controversial reverse discrimination case likely to be featured in her confirmation hearings. He also reveals what he wrote on her final exam in that torts class.

Jasmine Networks’ epic trade secret case against Marvell Semiconductor, featuring a general counsel’s accidental voice mail confession, was suddenly dismissed Wednesday, as Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Thomas Edwards ruled that Jasmine doesn’t have standing to sue because the bankrupt company had sold off the trade secrets in question. Edwards wrote that the issue of standing appeared to be one of first impression.