Author Archives: John DiGiacomo

Even as the coronavirus pandemic spreads around the world, people and businesses are trying to gain a commercial advantage from trademarking words and phrases related to the virus and people and places associated with the epidemic. Chinese trademark officials, for example, recently announced that almost 1,000 trademark applications related to COVID-19 have been been filed […]

Recent events will significantly spur the use of telemedicine. The last two decades have already seen a surge in the use of telemedicine prompted by the advent of economical person-to-person video transmissions. Telemedicine has been a revolution in medical examinations, consultations, and treatment. For example, the Veteran’s Administration recently expanded the use of telemedicine for […]

At the end of January 2020, the United Kingdom (“UK”) filed formal papers with the European Union (“EU”) to withdraw from the political and economic alliance. This has commonly been called “Brexit.” For the next year or so, the UK will remain loosely affiliated with the EU, but at the end of the transition period, […]

Recently, the California Attorney General’s Office (“AG”) issued two sets of modifications to the regulations that are meant to govern application and enforcement of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). An original set of proposed regulations was issued in October 2019. A second set was issued on February 7, 2020 and then a […]

Copyrights apply to what are called “original works” and come into existence when the original work is created. Copyrights are protected at common law, by state law, and by the federal Copyright Act of 1976. See 17 U.S.C. §101 et seq. Copyrights are potentially quite valuable to an author or business. Examples include the royalty […]

With the looming costs of any sort of data breach, data loss, or exfiltration, cybersecurity has become a key focus of due diligence in recent mergers and acquisitions. Specific representations and warranties about data security are now routine in M&A Purchase Agreements. Only a few years ago, there were almost no provisions in a Purchase […]

  The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has just issued a new comprehensive guidance on the methods that businesses and not-for-profit organizations should be using to guard against hacking, ransomware and other malicious and criminal attempts to exfiltrate company data and consumer information. See here. If your data and your computer systems are vulnerable, your […]

  For the last couple of years, biometric data has been at the forefront of the legal battles about protecting consumer privacy. Consumers are beginning to understand how much biometric data is collected by businesses and government. Businesses are now routinely using fingerprints for time clock management and for building security purposes. Law enforcement and […]

  Recently, Mercedes-Benz created a controversy by photographing its new luxury G-Class SUV vehicle in front of famous street murals created by artists in Detroit. Mercedes-Benz posted several of the photos on Instagram as part of a marketing campaign without the consent of the artists and without compensating them. The photos depicted buildings and murals […]

  Seizing an Infringer’s Domain Name is an Effective Method of Combating Infringement When your business is confronted with infringement of copyrights, trademarks and/or other IP, one of the most effective remedies for stopping the infringement is suing and asking the court to order the transfer of the infringer’s domain name to your business. This […]