From the monthly archives:

May 2008

"Employee Non-Compete Agreements: Protecting Innovation or Stifling It?" – Harvard's Berkman Center to Debate Economic Implications of Noncompete Agreement

May 30, 2008

See Xconomy article here for details. Quoting from the article: Employee Non-Compete Agreements: Protecting Innovation or Stifling It? Thursday, June 19th, 3:00-7:00 pm Ames Courtroom, 2nd floor of Austin Hall, Harvard Law School There will be a panel discussion, followed by a cocktail reception. Anyone is free to attend. You just have to register by

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Quick Hits: Supreme Court Arguments, Unpublished Mass Appeals Court Decisions, Trademark Law Decision

May 30, 2008

The “Oyez” web site now presents oral arguments before the Supreme Court in multimedia: As you listen to the argument you see a synchronized transcript, and a photo of the judge or lawyer speaking appears every time there is a change in speaker. This multimedia presentation makes the experience of listening to these arguments much

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Dummies Guide to Understanding Subprime Mortgages

May 27, 2008

A lot of people are having a hard time understanding how the country got into the sub-prime mortgage mess, or even exactly what a “sub-prime mortgage” is. How could so many intelligent, responsible people in housing, banking, finance and government have gotten this so wrong? If you’re are one of these people, this skit may

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Judges Who Blog

May 27, 2008

Very few judges blog, but Massachusetts Federal District District Court Judge Nancy Gertner is one of the first, if not the very first. An article in the May 27, 2008 Boston Globe discusses her blogging for Slate, one of the best online magazines. If you’re interested in reading Judge Gertner’s blogs, go to “Convictions: Slate’s

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The TimesMachine

May 23, 2008

If you have a home delivery subscription to the New York Times (even only the Sunday Times), check out the TimesMachine — a collection of full-page image scans of the newspaper from 1851-1922. That’s every issue and every page and article, advertisements and all, viewable in their original format. April 16, 1912 To read how

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Rambus Court: "Price Raising Deception" Not Competitive Harm

May 22, 2008

The “Rambus litigation” in all its many permutations — Justice Department investigation, FTC proceedings and multiple civil cases — has been documented and commented upon widely. For a recap see Andy Updegrove’s article here. At the heart of the legal controversy is the allegation that during the 1990s Rambus, the owner of key DRAM patents

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Interesting Documents: "Order for Discovery of Computer Memory Devices" in ConnectU v. Facebook

May 20, 2008

Here is an example of just how complex electronic discovery can become when the stakes are high, and the lawyers are prepared to negotiate an extremely detailed discovery protocol. This document is from the ConnectU v. Facebook litigation, in which ConnectU alleges that the founders of Facebook misappropriated ConnectU ideas and technology. The Order is

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Judge Young Pulls No Punches When it Comes to Mandatory Sentencing

May 19, 2008

You may recall the brouhaha that arose last year when a Massachusetts state district court judge vacated a prior state court conviction in order to mitigate the impact that the conviction would have on the defendant under the federal sentencing guidelines in an upcoming sentencing in federal court. The defendant, Matthew West, was due to

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The Amazing Nathan Myhrvold

May 8, 2008

Caption: “The history of science is full of ideas that several people had at the same time.” Link to the full article in The New Yorker, May 12, 2008 here. Teaser: Myhrvold started Microsoft’s research division, leaving, in 1999, with hundreds of millions. He is obsessed with aperiodic tile patterns. (Imagine a floor tiled in

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