It’s Girl Scout Cookie season. A few days ago, my wife brought some home. Inspecting the three boxes stacked on our kitchen island (purple, red, and orange), I was puzzled. …

In April, 2018, we wrote about a dispute between LinkedIn and data analytics company HiQ Labs and the legal implications for the widespread practice of “scraping” information from third-party websites. In September, 2019, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit weighed in. Here’s where things stand: Does the CFAA…

Thanks to both the growth of vaping and the legalization of adult-use cannabis, new smoke shops have been popping up across the Golden State in recent years like strictly-regulated weeds. This article surveys some of the rules that California imposes on the sale of both tobacco and cannabis products. Tobacco …

Last summer, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was implemented, significantly changing the potential liability faced by online businesses with respect to their handling of user data. The GDPR created a quandary for U.S. …

When you’re a trademark lawyer based on the Central Coast of California, it’s not long before someone asks you about the Lone Cypress. The Lone Cypress is an iconic tree that stands on top of a granite outcropping in Pebble Beach, between Pacific Grove and Carmel-by-the-Sea. …

Note: This article was initially written in early 2018. A follow-up discussing developments in the interim is available here. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is currently hearing oral argument in HiQ v. LinkedIn, a case that could have far-reaching implications for Internet businesses. The case is about scraping. “Scraping”…

In financial disclosure documents filed during the election, Donald Trump claimed his personal wealth exceeded $10 billion. Forbes put the number closer to $3.5 billion. Much of the discrepancy can be attributed to a particular set of assets: the president’s trademarks. Whether you go by Trump’s own assertions or by…

In this final installment on our series about HBO’s Silicon Valley, we return one more time to the legal entanglements that challenge Richard Hendricks and the Pied Piper crew and ask how authentic the portrayal of these issues really is. In Part One, we discussed employee IP assignments and restrictive…

Last week, we discussed the lawsuit that runs through the second season of Silicon Valley and what it can teach us about intellectual property and contract law. …