LaRiviere, Grubman & Payne wishes you, your family and friends happy holidays and a joyous new year. more >
Last October, the Ig Nobel Awards were given out in fun to researchers for work that never really deserved the light of day. For example, the Public Health Award was presented to the inventor of a brassiere that, in an emergency like an anthrax attack (but also of any other… more >
• Edward Kelly Brings Anti-Counterfeiting Practice to LGP. Edward Kelly has joined LaRiviere, Grubman & Payne to become Director of its Asian Operations. Although Monterey is the “world headquaters” of LGP, Ed will work out of LGP’s Bangkok, Thailand office while shuttling to Hong Kong, Monterey and other client sites.… more >
Recently, I was at a social engagement and found myself toasting with a newfound Russian acquaintance. Eventually, the subject of our newly opened offices in Bangkok came up. “Thailand,” she said with an arched brow and knowing smile, “shyopping is vyery goot there… Cyoach bag for almost nyothing.” This is… more >
In late November, 2009, the United States Justice Department announced indictments against several groups of individuals for conspiring to support a terrorist organization, Hizballah. The individuals were charged with trafficking in stolen merchandise and selling counterfeit goods, specifically including the sale of counterfeit Nike® shoes and Mitchell & Ness® sports… more >
The second wave of H1N1 influenza virus has now hit the populace, targeting certain at-risk victims. On October 24, 2009, the Obama administration declared the 2009 H1N1 "swine flu" pandemic a national emergency and acted swiftly in lifting regulatory hurdles that would otherwise hinder the vaccine's administration by medical providers… more >
At the beginning of December, the USPTO announced a pilot program whereby pending applications filed prior to December 8, 2009 involving “green” technologies can petition for expedited examination. The pilot program is limited to the first 3000 approved petitions, but hopefully may be expanded by the USPTO in the future.… more >
The time for change is upon us, and as ICANN’s Senior Director of Internationalized Domain Names Tina Dam has said, we are about to see “...the biggest technical change to the Internet’s addressing system…in many years.” Internet domains will not be in just the seemingly ubiquitous Latin-character alphabet for much… more >
When representing individual inventors, as well as an institutional assignee, the question of the duty of candor and its scope arises. In particular, large institutions involved in many different products or technologies often wonder if they are obligated to conduct a full review of their various ventures in order to… more >
The largest copyright-infringement case in Canadian history is taking place currently. The defendants are members of the Canadian Recording Industry Association and have themselves complained for years how Canadian consumers disrespect copyrights. The defendants include Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada. The… more >