Mass Law Blog
Intellectual property and business litigation, Massachusetts and nationallyWritten by humans
Lee Gesmer’s Mass Law Blog began in 2005, and contains almost 600 posts. The site initially focused on Massachusetts law, but today it follows business and intellectual property law nation-wide. The site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm represents startup and established companies in the areas of litigation, transactions (including financings, mergers and acquisitions), IP rights, taxation, employment law, standards consortia, business counseling and open source development projects and foundations. You can find a summary of the firm’s services here. To learn how Gesmer Updegrove can help you, contact: Lee Gesmer
The Copyright Workaround and Reputation Management: Small Justice v. Ripoff Report
If you were asked why copyright law exists you probably would respond along the lines of “to give authors and artists a financial incentive to create new works, and to protect the integrity of their works.” It’s unlikely you would respond, “to give someone the ability to manage their online reputation and remove defamatory online reviews.” Yet, in a bizarre case that has wound its way through the courts of Massachusetts for the last six years, that is exactly what attorney Richard Goren...
Reminder from SDNY – Trade Secrets Need To Be Kept Secret
A recent opinion from an SDNY federal district court reminded me of a client I represented many years ago. The company insisted that the core functionalities and user interface of its software program were trade secrets. A competitor had copied these, and the client asked my firm to commence a lawsuit for misappropriation of trade secrets. An investigation showed that the client's software was disclosed to prospective clients in one-on-one meetings and at trade shows without any requirement...
When the Judge Distrusts Your Lawyers: Waymo v. Uber
Uber is in trouble. The trial between Alphabet's Waymo and Uber over Waymo's self-driving car trade secrets was scheduled to begin on December 4th before Judge William Alsup, of Oracle v. Google fame. (Readers familiar with coverage of that case know how smart and tough he is). According to published reports, at the last minute evidence (a letter) was discovered suggesting that Uber has a team dedicated to collecting trade secrets from competing companies. Allegedly, the people involved use...
Fagen, Becker and the Steely Dan Buy/Sell Agreement
The first time I heard of a "buy/sell agreement" was around 1970 when I was 19 - just a few years before I fell in love with Steely Dan's music. Back then my father owned a textile business in Haverhill, Massachusetts with a 50-50 "partner," and he explained that the business had insurance policies on both of their lives. If either partner died, the insurance would fund the purchase of the deceased partner's shares, and the surviving partner would end up owning 100% of the company. This, he...
This site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a technology law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. You can find a summary of our services here. To learn how GU can help you, contact:
Lee Gesmer