Pleasanton Business & Commercial Law Blog
On behalf of Law Offices of James G. Schwartz, P.C. posted in Business Litigation on Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The Americans Disabilities Act, or ADA for short, has been in effect for decades. While it was created to ensure that those with disabilities are able to visit businesses with ease and in comfort, it has cast a much wider net as the years have passed. The use of lawsuits to force compliance even after a small business has done its best to fulfill all requirements often leads to a need for business litigation in California and across the county.
In 2008, the owner of an auto center in Roseville was provided with a letter stating that he was not compliant with current ADA laws. He immediately sought legal advice. It turns out he was not compliant, but made the necessary changes so that he was -- special outside table, proper signage and a parking space. With the changes made, the owner figured this was the end of the issue.
On behalf of Law Offices of James G. Schwartz, P.C. posted in Intellectual Property on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
As any California resident is probably well aware of, intellectual property rights have gone from being a relatively obscure issue to taking center stage over the past 20 years thanks to a number of emerging technologies. Nowadays, people can share songs, books and movies with ease. People are also creating their own content at a record pace. Naturally, this has led to a lot of interest in intellectual property rights.
Although many economies rely on intellectual property rights, few may compare to the reliance of the United States upon them. California may especially rely on these rights thanks to Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Indeed, a new survey conducted by the U.S. government shows that 40 million jobs are supported by intellectual property rights. That's more than a quarter of the U.S. workforce, or 28 percent.
On behalf of Law Offices of James G. Schwartz, P.C. posted in Intellectual Property on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Jury selection for an intellectual property suit between two technology heavy-hitters began on April 16. The case, which is being tried before a federal court in California, involves Oracle Corp. and Google, with Oracle accusing Google of copyright and patent infringement. It is seeking $1 billion in damages as well as an injunction to prevent Google from further distributing the popular Android mobile operating system.
The heart of the matter concerns the development of the Android system. Oracle is alleging that Google improperly used Java in developing Android. Java is an Oracle-owned product that allows for developers to easily write programs for use on any computer. It specifically says that Google infringed on two patents, as well as infringed on the copyright Oracle holds on a technology known as application programming interfaces (APIs).
On behalf of Law Offices of James G. Schwartz, P.C. posted in Business Formation & Planning on Friday, April 20, 2012
Companies often face unexpected market conditions that may cause them to change their plans. While it is not always possible to plan for every contingency, it may nonetheless be possible to create a well-rounded business plan that allows a company the flexibility to react quickly and effectively. California-based business startup BrightSource Energy recently experienced this first-hand.
BrightSource is a solar thermal company that builds large solar electric generating systems in desert regions. Currently, its flagship project is a 392-megawatt facility that it is constructing in the Mojave Desert, and which will be the largest solar thermal power plant in the world once construction is finished in 2013. It also recently received a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy and was due to issue an IPO soon.
On behalf of Law Offices of James G. Schwartz, P.C. posted in Business Torts on Friday, April 13, 2012
Publicly owned corporations enjoy many benefits, but those benefits carry with them a cost. Specifically, they face higher standards of scrutiny and may come under fire for even innocent mistakes. In that vein, California readers may be interested to hear of a shareholder lawsuit alleging that Groupon committed fraudulent business practices.
Recently, Groupon informed investors that the company had made a mistake in its accounting for refund reserves. The mistake meant that the fourth quarter revenue last year was $14.3 million less than believed. The discrepancy was evidently caused by a failure on Groupon's part to take customer refunds properly into account. There were more refunds than usual at the end of last year.
On behalf of Law Offices of James G. Schwartz, P.C. posted in Intellectual Property on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
One of the most important things for a company is the protection of its intellectual property. This property may well define the company in the eyes of the public, making it all the more vital to see that others are not infringing upon it. In that vein, California readers may be interested to hear that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences recently filed a copyright infringement suit against an events rental company.
According to a news report, the events company had been allowing customers to rent oversized Oscar statuettes. It was also reportedly selling the statuettes as well. As the Academy has a copyright on the form of the Oscar statuette, it has a right to prevent others from using it in their promotional items and from selling it.
On behalf of Law Offices of James G. Schwartz, P.C. posted in Business Formation & Planning on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
When deciding to start a business, there are number of considerations that may need to be taken into account. For example, there may be business formation issues relating to inventory control, staffing and leases. One California small business, though, decided to ditch all that when they took their bakery and catering business to the web.
Although many small businesses have an online presence these days, they typically do not involve freshly baked produce. However, after examining their options, one Sacramento-based business decided to go the online-only route. They now operate two websites: one that delivers personalized cakes and baked goods overnight to all 50 states, and another that specifically targets the local area and delivers the food directly to a home or office.
On behalf of Law Offices of James G. Schwartz, P.C. posted in Business Torts on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
When faced with a lawsuit from a large organization, a small business may not necessarily know how to fight back, much less have the resources to do so. That appears to be the case with a recent wave of lawsuits filed against small businesses in California. These lawsuits are targeted at businesses that fail to make the appropriate payment for playing a pay-per-view event. However, the amount sued for to cover the alleged copyright infringement may not always be suitable, as one business lawsuit made clear.
In that incident, a small business owner of a bar in Aptos, California found himself facing a lawsuit for $160,000 in damages for a pay-per-view event his bar displayed. However, in this case, the event was turned on by a patron and not by the bar itself. Normally, the cost of displaying the event would have been $800.
On behalf of Law Offices of James G. Schwartz, P.C. posted in Contract Disputes on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Mergers and business acquisitions often involve a host of complicated issues that are not necessarily easily resolved. That may in turn lead to business litigation, such as a breach of contract dispute. Indeed, that appears to be what happened after the recent acquisition of Monarch HealthCare by UnitedHealth Group in November 2011.
Before the acquisition, Monarch had a contract with Blue Shield of California through which it offered services to a little more than 19,000 of Blue Shield's customers in Orange County. According to Blue Shield, the sale of Monarch to UnitedHealth Group violated a provision of their contract. Blue Shield subsequently notified Monarch that the contract would be terminated effective May 1.
On behalf of Law Offices of James G. Schwartz, P.C. posted in Intellectual Property on Friday, March 9, 2012
One of the most vital responsibilities of a business is to protect its intellectual property and to act against those who infringe upon it. At the same time, however, those who are accused of infringing upon the intellectual property of another may well believe that the claim has no merit. In a case that may interest California readers, this was most recently put on display when Yahoo accused Facebook of patent infringement.
Although Yahoo is not disclosing the number of patents that it believes Facebook is infringing upon, it has said that it believes the popular social networking site is violating patents relating to how to handle user data. The company informed Facebook of the possible infringement through an e-mailed statement, and it is requesting that Facebook pay licensing fees. If the social network fails to do this, then Yahoo has threatened to press its claim in court.
