Author Archives: John DiGiacomo

There are a large number of reasons why the US Trademark Office can deny an application for trademark registration. Nothing is automatic about registration. This is one reason it is important to retain experienced trademark attorneys to provide advice and legal counsel leading up to the application and to shepherd the application through the Trademark […]

A federal Court of Appeals has recently affirmed that damages for trade secret misappropriation can include estimated costs for research and development (and also a hefty award of punitive damages). See Epic Systems Corporation v. Tata Consultancy Services, Ltd., Case Nos. 19-1528; 19-1613 (7th Cir., August 20, 2020). That case involved the Wisconsin version of […]

The first sale doctrine is a defense to trademark infringement. In the US, federal trademarks are governed by the Lanham Act. The Lanham Act prohibits unauthorized persons or entities from using a registered trademark “in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any goods or services on or in connection with […]

The California Attorney General released another set of proposed amendments to the regulations for the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). See information page here. These amendments are expected to go into effect in early 2021. These new regulations will take effect and apply to the CCPA as currently enacted and will also apply to Proposition […]

Among many other prohibitions, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) prohibits efforts to gain access to computers by circumventing security control measures. In particular, the statute states that: “No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.” See 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)(A). “Circumventing” is very broadly […]

As with most purchases, price is key. No buyer wants to pay more than the value of something and no seller wants to sell for less than what it is worth. The same is true if you are thinking of buying an e-commerce business or any other type. As a result, buyers and sellers resort […]

On November 3, 2020, California voters approved what was commonly called Proposition 24 (“Prop 24”). Prop 24 was a ballot initiative intended to amend the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). See full text here. Prop 24 was approved by more than 56% of the voters and will soon become law. Prop 24 will become effective […]

Amazon Go Stores recently announced a new biometric technology making it even easier for customers to come, shop, and go at these retail outlets. See news report here. The technology involves palm geometry and blood vessel scanning. Like fingerprints, retinal patterns and face geometry, each person’s blood vessel configuration is unique and, once scanned and […]

One of the “new normals” in our COVID-19 pandemic employment world is the ever more common use of employee teleconferences. This is one of the many innovations that has resulted from a huge increase in remote working and remote workers. As a result, businesses must begin establishing rules, procedures, and protocols for these types of […]

We wrote recently about how an extra layer of merger and acquisition due diligence should be triggered if the target business has taken a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). Since we wrote, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”), which administers the PPP, issued what is called “Procedural Notice No. 5000-20057.” We will call it […]