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
Why Has Silicon Valley Outperformed Boston/ Route 128 as a High Tech Hub?
In a post on TechDirt Mike Masnick argues (with references to supporting studies) that the fact that noncompete agreements are enforceable in Massachusetts but not in California has been a major factor in Silicon Valley's success. A few excerpts from the article: Ronald Gilson . . . [found that the success of Silicon Valley] had much less to do with cultural reasons and much more to do with the legal differences between the two places, specifically: California does not enforce noncompetes,...
Ray Niro Offers $5,000 for Identity of Author of "Troll Tracker" Blog
It appears that infamous Chicago patent attorney Ray Niro has offered $5,000 for anyone who will identify the author of the Patent Troll Tracker, which Niro apparently believes has made uncharitable comments about him. The anonymous author of the Patent Troll Tracker blog takes this in good humor, describing the offer as a "bounty" and stating: I have never had a bounty on my head before (see also blog post here). And I can't imagine why Ray Niro would pay $5,000 to find out who I am. I...
Are You Serious, Counselor?
One of the many oddities of the legal profession is that judges have to take truly bizarre allegations seriously, and use detailed legal logic to dismiss them. This is like watching Aristotle being forced to debate John Cleese during a Monty Python revival festival. You see this most often in pro se lawsuits brought by prison inmates who are challenging their convictions or treatment during incarceration. You see it a lot less often in the rarified world of intellectual property litigation....
SJC Briefs Available Online
Recently, I wrote an entry describing how ScotusBlog was making available online every brief filed in the Supreme Court (where the Court has accepted cert.). Now, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is making all briefs filed in its cases availabe on the SJC website. These resources are a windfall to practitioners, who can study the research and arguments made by other attorneys, rather than tackling difficult legal issues cold. These resources (unimaginable in the pre-Internet age) can,...
Angel Financing Could Do With A Little Streamlining
Investments by angel groups have become too complicated. As groups get more aggressive in pursuing profits, and seek more protection against downside risk, their deals have become as complex as venture capital deals. This complexity costs time and money, reducing the benefit to both investors and companies. By streamlining the transaction structure, angel groups could simplify negotiations, shorten the time it takes to do a deal, reduce transaction costs, put more money to work building new...
"If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent Texas and live in Hell"
This quote, attributed to General Phillip Sheridan in 1868, describes how many patent defendants feel about Texas, and particularly Marshall, Texas, which has become a patent litigation black hole, sucking in unwilling defendants from around the nation. A blog, titled the Patent Troll Tracker, closely follows events in Marshall. Here is an abbreviated excerpt from a recent post concerning patent litigation in Marshall: This is really the year of the patent troll. Last year, approximately 6,000...
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