Don’t Miss IP CLE Credits During the Annual Meeting

by | May 28, 2015 | Bar and Committee Business, CLE

Mark Stein

Mark Stein will present an hour-long CLE at the Annual Meeting

The Intellectual Property Committee will meet at the Florida Bar’s Annual Convention at the Boca Raton Resort and Club on Thursday June 25th from 10 am until 12 pm (please note that some of the Bar registration materials incorrectly state the meeting starts at 11:30 am. This is not correct; we wouldn’t hold our committee meeting during the Business Law Section Luncheon). If you haven’t yet registered for the Annual Meeting, be sure to so so soon, as early bird registration ends June 1st.

Even if you are not registering for the Annual Meeting, you can still attend the Intellectual Property Committee meeting and obtain an hour of valuable IP Certification and CLE credit. During the latter half of the meeting, Mark Stein will present a one hour CLE entitled Trademark Issues Related to Big Data. This CLE program will provide information about the role “Big Data” plays in trademark prosecution issues. While the term “Big Data” has many meanings, it is most typically defined as the massive quantity of raw data that has not been analyzed or organized in any manner that is being generated each day. The use of, as well as the new businesses and services arising from this collection of data has created unique trademark issues for companies in many industries. This CLE explores those issues, identifies and describes them and then provides practical ideas for dealing with issues “Big Data” creates in the prosecution and protection of trademarks.

Don’t miss it!

CADRA Enacted by Florida Legislature

by | May 20, 2015 | Bar and Committee Business, General Announcements, Legal Developments - State Law

The Computer Abuse and Data Recovery Act (CADRA), Fla. Stat. § 668.801, was signed into law by Governor Scott on May 14, 2015 [click for a .pdf of CADRA]. After approval by the Business Law Section, CADRA was introduced into the Florida Legislature by Sen. Hukill (Ocala) and Rep. Spano (Riverview).

The Act was a result of nearly 20 meetings over a 2 ½ year period with members of the Computer Law, Intellectual Property and Business Litigation Committees. Robert Kain spearheaded the Task Force to draft and hone the proposed legislation, with support from many members of these committees, including, in alphabetical order:
Kimberly Bursum
Michael Chesal
Jude Cooper
Ury Fischer
Larry Kunin
Russ Landy
Sam Lewis
Jim Murphy
Andy Ostrow
Woody Pollack
Joel Rothman
Mark Stein
Dineen Wasylik

CADRA creates a remedy for business owners harmed by persons who abuse passwords and security controls on computers and computer-based information and programs. The law goes into effect October, 2015.

I thank everyone on the IP Committee who gave their time and insight to the drafting and legislative process, with a special thank you to Robert for taking the lead.