Standard Contract Terms Link

This is an interesting article on the conscionability of standard contract terms. He mentions U.S., French, German and South African contract terms. Under the reasonable expectations test of the Uniform Commercial Code

the clarity and conspicuousness of [a possibly inconsciable] term ... [are] considerations in determining knowledge of the weaker party.

Is that why U.S. standard contract terms for consumers list certain sections in caps? Do they honestly think it's easier to read?

Legal Lingo

This in ContractProf Blog:

A plaintiff who demanded and accepted a specific amount as due him from a breach had entered into an accord and satisfaction.

Huh? So I looked up accord and satisfaction in my Merriam Webster's Dictionary of Law:

Satisfaction:
execution of an accord by performance of the substituted obligation —often used in the phrase accord and satisfaction

And also found this:

Accord:
an accepted offer by which the parties agree that a specified future performance will discharge in full an obligation when performed even though the performance is of less value than the original obligation; also : the defense that an accord was agreed upon —usu. used in the phrase accord and satisfaction;

Other tidbits from Jones Day's Business Restructuring Review:

Stamp taxes are commonly imposed under state or local law in connection with the transfer of real or personal property.

(Last I checked, them was fighting words.)

... the bankruptcy court's ability to exempt from taxation the subject transaction ...

... administrative insolvency, or the absence of sufficient estate assets to pay administrative claims ...

... bankruptcy trustees, chapter 11 debtors-in-possession ...

... a request for action by a party-in-interest ...

... to work out a consensual plan ... to work out a consensual resolution ...

... "ancillary" bankruptcy proceedings ... (in which) a duly appointed representative of a foreign company that is the subject of a bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding abroad may commence a limited bankruptcy case in the U.S. for the purpose of protecting and, where appropriate, repatriating that debtor's assets to the host country.

Patently Obvious

This is absolute poetry. Here's a quote:

A patent gives the owner the right to stop others from reproducing the invention. The patent is virtually the garden fence around the sowed seed and protects and ensures, that the harvest belongs to that person who made the effort to sow the seed in the first place.

These attorneys are not only elegant, they also cut right to the chase. For example, here's something I've often wondered:

What other Intellectual Property Rights do exist?

For technical inventions a so-called utility model exists besides patent. For aesthetic models or design a design patent is available.

The copyright protects works of art, science and literature as e.g. books as well as computer programs. Words and logos for goods and services can be protected through trademarks.

Further property rights follow from the plant variety protection law for plants and the semiconductor protection law for microelectronic semiconductor devices.

I’ve often wondered about the differences between patents and utility models. Here are some:

1) Utility models expire after 10 years.
2) They are easier to get than patents.
3) They are not examined by the patent office prior to registration. Their protectability is only checked after a lawsuit has been filed for infringement.
4) They only cover the shape, structure or combination of articles, unlike patents, which also cover processes.
5) They are better if you want to protect a short-lived product.
6) They are better if you don’t want to wait for a full-blown patent.

There is also a discussion of the different types of marks here.

Caught Red-Handed

Is culpa in contrahendo Greek to you?

Check out this link. And this one.

God, I love the internet.