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 Bill That Would Make Noncompete Agreements Unenforceable in Massachusetts
[Update, November 7, 2011]: Almost 3 years later, and still no law. Here is the full text of a bill filed last week that would make noncompete agreements unenforceable in Massachusetts, at least as to employees (as contrasted with noncompete covenants entered into in connection with the sale of a business, the other major category of noncompete covenants): AN ACT TO PROHIBIT RESTRICTIVE EMPLOYMENT COVENANTS Section 1. Section 19 of Chapter 149 of the General Laws of Massachusetts is hereby...
Gatehouse Media v. The New York Times: Ready for Trial, Counsel?
When I discussed the copyright case Gatehouse Media v. The New York Times over the weekend I hadn't reviewed the court docket, and hadn't been aware that Judge William Young had pulled the trick that he is famous for (at least locally): when a party requests a preliminary injunction, he responds by ordering an expedited trial. And I do mean expedited. The case was filed on December 22, 2008. Docket entry 13, issued the same day, states in relevant part (cleaned up a bit for readability):...
Famous Trials
Trials. We love them, we hate them. If you're a client, you really hate them. Or at least you should. There are moments of high drama, but the vast majority of trials are as boring as watching grass grow. Even trials that attract the prurient interests of the public (think OJ or Spector), that force the world to watch with morbid fascination, are, for the most part, boring. Why do you think that Court TV shows only the "highlights"? Nevertheless, if you take an important trial and boil it...
Massachusetts Federal District Court Presented With Lawsuit Involving Copying of Online Newspaper Headlines – Gatehouse Media v. The New York Times
An interesting copyright case has been filed in Federal District Court in Massachusetts. In Gatehouse Media v. The New York Times, Gatehouse Media contends that the Times has infringed its copyrights by copying the headlines and first sentences from Gatehouses' local online newspapers, and displaying them verbatim on a Boston.com website (the New York Times owns Boston.com). To see this in action click here and your browser should open a page on Boston.com labeled "Needham." Scrolling down the...
Website Hook-Ups: if a Hook-Up Site Requires its Members to Represent That They are Over 18, is the Site Liable When a User is Busted for Having Sex With a Member Who is a Minor?
The answer to the question posed in the title is: No. No, no, no, no, no. Only a lawyer with really bad judgment would file a suit alleging breach of contract, fraud, and related claims. And, after losing in federal district court, appeal to the Sixth Circuit. If you really want to know the "legal" grounds for dismissal in this case, the decision is Doe v. SexSearch.com,* But, 'nuff said on this one. If you feel compelled to use a site like SexSearch.com (not that there's anythingwrong with...
Additional Amici Briefs Added to Rambus Group Page in FTC v. Rambus
The amici briefs of "Twenty Scholars," Hynix, Micron and Nvidia, the CCIA and the American Antitrust Institute have been added to the Rambus group page on scribd.com. Click here for a recent post discussing this appeal.
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