Category Archives: Articles
PATENT PENDING — what it is and how to obtain
By: Sharon Adams A product may be labeled as “patent pending” once a patent application has been filed, and until a patent is issued or the application is abandoned. This includes all types of patent applications, including provisional applications. Filing the application is all that is required. If a patent application is abandoned for any […]
Is Bitcoin in Your Wallet?
By: Daniel Richardson Although virtual currencies are not new they have rapidly evolved in recent years and their use is entering the financial mainstream. Bitcoin is the most widely used of the virtual currencies and is accepted by over 10,000 online retailers including Overstock.com and Expedia.com. So, what is Bitcoin? Is it currency, property, a […]
License to Extort Stopped
by: Andrew K Jacobson One characteristic of mobsters is the threat of something bad happening if you don’t do what the mobster wants you to do. It is even an unforgettable part of The Godfather: when the Hollywood studio head wouldn’t let Johnny, Don Corleone’s godson, star in a movie, he wakes up with the […]
Now for The [Good] News…
by: Andrew K Jacobson The news has been dreary for some time now, and September has not been friendly in the recent past. Under all that gloom, it is easy to forget that there is a lot of good news out there: Lower Crime. Accounting for population growth, violent crime is down 48 percent over the […]
Cell Time
Employers have long known that they have to reimburse employees for out-of-pocket expenses like mileage or meals with clients. Now employers can add cell phone costs, when an employee uses his or her own cell phone and plan.
Employers have long provided landlines and cell phones to their employees. However, cell phones are already in nearly every pocket or backpack. Employers are increasingly relying on the employees’ personal phones for contact, even if the employee is not regularly out in the field.
Cal. Lab. Code § 2802(a) states: “An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer . . . .”
Cal. Lab. Code § 2802(c) defines “necessary expenditures” as “all reasonable costs, including, but not limited to, attorney’s fees incurred by the employee enforcing the rights granted by this section.”
In August, 2014, the Second District Court of Appeals in California ruled that employers have to reimburse employees who use their own cell phones as part of their job.
eJuror Scam
Don’t get scammed — there is a scam email pretending to be from your friendly federal district court. It states that you have been selected for jury duty in federal court, and that you have to provide them with lots of information, like your social security number, your driver’s license, mother’s maiden name, and the […]
A Skull Full of Mush
by: Andrew K Jacobson The New York Timesrecently featured an article on Oakland’s own Sustainable Economies Law Center, which helps prospective lawyers apprentice with a lawyer for a few years while learning the law. Every law student who suffered “the ramen noodle and Contracts casebook at 12:30 am” existence finds it tempting. My publicly funded law […]
Foiling the Hyenas
The plunge from the easy money of the 2004-2008 era to The Great Recession hurt a lot of people. The easy credit of plastic morphed into a nightmare of bills and the inability to make even minimum payments. People who lost their jobs or were unable to afford finance charges that, in some cases, exceeded 20% annually, were saddled with debt that they couldn’t pay back, and no one game them a break. However, the banks that initially extended the bad debt, at worst case, were folded into healthy banks, and usually sold their bad debt at a deep discount – as low as 1%-2% of the total value – to companies that make their living suing those who can’t pay back their debt. How does someone in tough circumstances fight back against the hyenas?
What Season Is It? It’s Duck Season!
By: Andrew K Jacobson Look at the picture: what is it? A duck? A rabbit? Both? Depending on what hunting season it happens to be, a lot can depend on the answer. The same is true in copyright. Cable companies rebroadcast transmissions to their customers from broadcasters. Originally, the Supreme Court ruled that was acceptable, […]
What Flavor is your NDA?
By Andrew Jacobson Ah, the conundrums of a child’s summer: butterscotch, or strawberry? Mint chocolate chip, or triple fudge? Cone or cup? Businesses have their less-tasty choices, but they are still there: what flavor is your non-disclosure agreement? There are almost as many options for NDAs as there are at your local ice-cream store. […]
