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
Project Posner
Tim Wu and Stuart Sierra, a Columbia Law School professor and web designer respectively, have launched Project Posner, a web site offering unheard of access to Judge Richard A. Posner's legal opinions, in searchable format. And yes, the creators -- who are certainly not alone in this view -- pronounce that "Richard Posner is probably the greatest living American jurist." If, however, you still find yourself wondering: why should I care?, Project Posner has you covered. Project Posner offers...
Old Lawyers Never Die, They Just Lose Their Appeal
We repeat this bumper sticker joke meaning no disrespect for U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Keeton, who has retired at age 86 after 27 years on the federal bench. His retirement was effective September 8, 2006. You can find a link to the official announcement here. Since being appointed to the bench in 1979, Judge Keeton presided over a number of significant cases, including a groundbreaking software copyright case involving Lotus 1-2-3 and the prosecution of political activist Lyndon...
Recent Cases (copyright, trade secrets)
In Cambridge Literary Properties, Inc. v. W. Goebel Porzellanfabrik Magistrate Judith Dein issued an extensive Report and Recommendation (adopted by Judge Nancy Gertner) on issues relating to the statute of limitations as a bar to a claim of copyright infringement. The case involves facts going back as far as 1931 which involved the drawings of Berta Hummel, and is a valuable primer on the defense of statute of limitations in copyright actions. District court Judge Gorton has issued a decision...
Larry Reece
Laurence H. Reece, III, was a partner at our firm for two years at the end of the 1990s. Following that, he started his own firm in 2000. Larry died of cancer in August 2004. Larry was the "Dean of the Bar" in Massachusetts when it came to the law of trade secrets and covenants not to compete. He was a nationally recognized expert in these practice areas and a prolific author, writing seminal articles on these topics. Life moves on, and out of concern that these articles would turn to dust on...
When It Comes To Long-Arm Jurisdiction, Unpredictability Rules
Lawyers know that one of the most unpredictable decisions a Superior Court judge can make involves long-arm jurisdiction - that is, whether the defendant has enough "contacts" with the state to be sued here. (For an article by the author discussing the state long-arm statute in depth, click here). Two recent decisions illustrate this point. In Saint-Gobain Ceramics v. Happy Hewes Judge Bruce Henry ruled that there was no personal jurisdiction over Hewes, who lived in Illinois, despite the fact...
Fremont-Smith and Zobel Recalled to Superior Court Bench
Courts. Although Allan van Gestel's recall to the Suffolk County Business Litigation Session received moderate publicity last year, both Thayer Fremont-Smith (bio) and Hiller Zobel's recall this year has received almost no attention at all. If these recalls were reported by Mass Lawyers Weekly, I can't find it. Both judges are sitting in Middlesex for now.
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