The Blog For Business Law

— By Ron HackFebruary 12, 20180 Comments

APPLICATION OF THE “OPEN and OBVIOUS” DOCTRINE

What to most of us would seem to be an obvious conclusion, the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that if you try to move rolls of insulation in a self-service area, and notice that a stack of insulation is leaning, don’t expect…

— By Ron HackJanuary 2, 20180 Comments

OH MY, MY RELATIVE HAS JUST DIED, WHAT DO I DO?

There is an all too common occurrence facing many people: What to do when an elderly person dies and you are the only one around to pick up the pieces. Here is the scenario: You receive a call and learn your Great Aunt Minnie or…

— By Alex HurstOctober 11, 20170 Comments

The Serious Uncertainties Surrounding Series LLCs

Much as the limited liability company (LLC) took the country by storm in the early 1990s, forever changing the American landscape of corporate governance and small business taxation, a new type of entity is proliferating from state to state: the protective series LLC. Originally developed…

— By Ron HackSeptember 7, 20170 Comments

ASBESTOS PLAINTIFF EXPERTS CAN’T TESTIFY EVERY EXPOSURE IS A CUMULATIVE CAUSE OF CANCER

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently decided that a major type of testimony traditionally used by asbestos plaintiff’s medical experts to attribute a cancer’s causation to each and any exposure to asbestos (no matter how long or intense) is unavailable…

— By Joseph RolnickiAugust 16, 20170 Comments

WHAT DO PATENT ATTORNEYS DO?

I recently attended a get together of Evans & Dixon, L.L.C. civil litigation attorneys, business litigation attorneys and business services attorneys at the Springfield, Missouri office of Evans & Dixon, L.L.C. Being a patent attorney in the Business Services Group of Evans & Dixon, L.L.C.,…

— By Ron HackJune 23, 20170 Comments

HAS THE U.S. SUPREME COURT PUT AN END TO LAWSUIT TOURISM ONCE AND FOR ALL? OR “3 STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT [OF THIS JURISDICTION]”

A General Counsel knows the situation all too well. He or she receives word that the Company has been named as part of a multi-plaintiff case in a plaintiff friendly jurisdiction which has nothing to do with the underlying facts, and most of the plaintiffs…

— By Don V. KellyJune 21, 20170 Comments

NO SAFE SPACE FROM OFFENSIVE TRADEMARKS! SUPREME COURT RULES LAW PROHIBITING REGISTRATION OF DISPARAGING TRADEMARKS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Last fall I wrote a post about the pending case, Matal v. Tam, before the United States Supreme Court that had implications for everyone. The blog dealt with a section of the federal trademark statute, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), which authorizes the United States Patent…

— By Ron HackJune 16, 20170 Comments

SEVENTH CIRCUIT SAYS PLAINTIFFS CAN’T ESCAPE WORKERS COMP EXCLUSIVITY BY ARGUING NEIGHBORHOOD/COMMUNITY ASBESTOS EXPOSURE

Under a new Illinois case, plaintiffs cannot avoid the restrictions of a state’s workers’ compensation statute by claiming exposure to asbestos in the plant’s neighborhood ambient air caused their asbestos related disease, rather than the exposures that occurred during their long employment history. The Seventh…

— By Ron HackMay 25, 20170 Comments

CORPORATE DEFENDANTS BEWARE – MISSOURI APPELLATE COURT AFFIRMS $10 MILLION PUNITIVE DAMAGE VERDICT IN ASBESTOS CASE WITH ONLY “CIRCUMSTANTIAL” EVIDENCE OF KNOWLEDGE BY THE DEFENDANT OF THE HAZARD

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, on May 2, 2017, affirmed a $10 million dollar punitive damages verdict, as well as a $1.5 million actual damages verdict, against Crane Co. in Poage v. Crane Co., No. ED103953 (Mo. App. E.D. 2017). This case is…

— By Joseph RolnickiMay 22, 20170 Comments

Outline Of The U.S. Patent Office Patent Examination Process

I was a Primary Examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office many years ago. Much has changed at the Patent Office since I served as an Examiner. For example, when I was an Examiner, prior art searching or patentability searching was done manually. After…