ITechLaw eNews - March 2011

Matthew Mousley, Editor-in-Chief

March 2011

In This Issue

Nominations for Board of Directors Due Monday, March 21

ITechLaw Launches Arbitration & Mediation Committee

Webinar: Arbitrating IT Disputes: A Comparative Analysis of Jurisdictions, March 28, 11:00 a.m. ET

April 8 is the Early Bird Registration Deadline for 2011 World Technology Law Conference & Annual Meeting, May 12-13, San Francisco, CA

ITechLaw Returns to Estonia for IV Annual Tallinn Conference, June 2-3, 2011

Save the Date - 2011 European Conference, October 20-21, Oslo, Norway

IVAP Committee Update: Host Firms Sought for 2012 Travelling Fellowship Award

Committee Watch - Intellectual Property Committee Update

ITechLaw Members in the News

Global Industry Briefs

ITechLaw Welcomes its Newest Members

ITechLaw Member Spotlight - Kevin Erdman

ITechLaw Member Spotlight - Jorge Jose Lawand

Nominations for ITechLaw 2011 - 2012 Board of Directors Due Monday, March 21, 2011

ITechLaw is currently soliciting nominations for election to the International Technology Law Association Board of Directors. The deadline for all nominations, which must be submitted by email to the Nominating Committee, is has been extended to Monday, March 21, 2011.

Please include in your nomination a short paragraph explaining why you believe the nominee should be elected to the Board at the annual meeting in San Francisco. Any attachments should be in PDF format.

Members of the Board of Directors have a number of important obligations that are detailed in the "International Technology Law Association Board of Directors Responsibilities." Each nominee must agree to carry out these obligations as a condition of nomination.

All nominees will be required to confirm acceptance of their nomination and to agree to be active in support of the Association and its work. Active participation has always meant more than merely attending Board meetings; there is an expectation that Board members will accept a leadership role and discharge that role during their service on the Board.

Nominations (by email to the Nominating Committee Chair, cc-ing the Committee Members) will be closed on March 21, 2011 so that the Nominating Committee may evaluate all nominees and recommend for election to the Board those who are in a position to make the necessary commitments.

The final list of nominees will be sent to the ITechLaw membership for an electronic vote prior to the ITechLaw Annual Meeting, taking place May 12-13, 2011 in San Francisco.

We look forward to your nominations. Please call or email the Nominating Committee Chair, Ursula Widmer if you have any questions. Ursula can be reached by phone at +41 31 351 66 33 or by email at Ursula.widmer@widmerpartners-lawyers.com.

Get Involved - ITechLaw Launches Arbitration & Mediation Substantive Law Committee

We are pleased to announce the recent formation of the Arbitration & Mediation Substantive Law Committee, co-chaired by Belen Arribas of Monereo, Meyer & Marinel-lo Abogados, SL in Barcelona and Clive Seddon of Pinsent Masons in London, with Rodolfo Fernandez of Miliners in Barcelona as vice-chair.

This committee will focus on various matters that are arbitrated and/or mediated in connection with technology law, such as matters typically litigated in Court, though sometimes moved to arbitration or mediation. The committee may also undertake an international survey of recent developments and trends in arbitration and mediation.

The ITechLaw Arbitration & Mediation Committee will also host its first webinar on March 28, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. ET on "Arbitrating IT Disputes: A Comparative Analysis of Jurisdictions," featuring speakers from the United States and Europe. Watch your email for registration details for this webinar.

The committee looks forward to discussing potential projects with interested members. Please visit the Arbitration & Mediation Committee page on the ITechLaw website to join. We look forward to working with you.

JOIN NOW

Save the Date - Webinar: Arbitrating IT Disputes: A Comparative Analysis of Jurisdictions - March 28, 2011, 11:00 a.m. ET

The ITechLaw Arbitration & Mediation Committee will host its first webinar on March 28, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. ET, on "Arbitrating IT Disputes: A Comparative Analysis of Jurisdictions."

Moderated by Belen Arribas, Monereo, Meyer & Marinel-lo Abogados, SL, Barcelona, co-chair of the Arbitration & Mediation Committee, this webinar will feature speakers Jenna Leavitt of Pillsbury, Los Angeles and Rodolfo Fernandez, Miliners, Barcelona.

Watch your email for more information and registration details for this webinar.

Early Bird Deadline Approaches for 2011 World Technology Law Conference & Annual Meeting, May 12-13, 2011, San Francisco, California USA

san fran

Register today to join your ITechLaw colleagues at the 2011 World Technology Law Conference and Annual Meeting for this thought-provoking, topical conference. The conference will include a 40th anniversary tribute, 15 in-depth conference sessions and interactive workshops on cutting-edge topics taught by industry leaders who are experts in their field, in addition to engaging networking and social events.

View our updated program for new information on the speakers and session topics. Early bird registration ends April 8, so register now to save more than $200 USD!

On the Thursday of the conference, May 12, speakers will discuss the development of technology law over the last four decades, provide useful insights to today's leaders and identify legal issues that likely will be encountered in navigating tomorrow's technology marketplace. On the Friday of the conference, May 13, expert speakers will address the role of technology lawyers as risk managers.

berlin 3 Beyond the educational content, this event will offer a rich diversity of attendees and speakers from a wide cross-section of technology law. Take advantage of multiple networking opportunities, including the black-tie Gala Dinner to be held at the Exploratorium, the welcome and closing receptions and multiple conference networking breaks, all designed to build your global network of technology law colleagues. From leading attorneys in private practice and in-house counsel, to C-level executives, government officials and academics, our attendees travel from over 50 countries to participate in our sessions and meet colleagues from across the globe.

four seasons Accommodations Reminder

The conference hotel - the Four Seasons San Francisco - is filling up quickly, so we encourage you to make your reservations early. The discounted room rate for ITechLaw conference attendees of $299 (single/double) per night plus tax will be honored for three days prior to the conference and during the event (May 9-13, 2011). The hotel has notified ITechLaw that rooms are nearly sold out for the days following the conference. Please note that the Four Seasons is offering attendees a rate of $495 plus tax for a deluxe king room for rooms booked for May 14-18, 2011. This is a limited offer and will fill up quickly. Complete accommodations information and details to book your stay can be found here. The discounted room rate expires on April 19, so be sure to book as soon as possible.

Register Today!

ITechLaw Returns to Estonia for IV Annual Tallinn Conference, June 2-3, 2011

estonia Together with Enterprise Estonia, ITechLaw will present a two-day program, "Addressing the Challenges of the Technology Company" in Tallinn, Estonia on June 2-3, 2011 at the Swissotel. This program, taught by a panel of recognized international experts, will focus on the needs and requirements of technology companies as they expand beyond the boundaries of the region.

Presentations will include selected legal and business topics of which technology companies, and their legal advisors, need to be aware as those companies expand their reach into global markets. Hon. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of the Republic of Estonia, is the invited Keynote Speaker.

In addition to educational sessions, the conference will feature multiple networking opportunities. The conference also includes an Elevator Pitch Contest for attendees, facilitated by local venture capital firms.

The IV Annual Tallinn Conference is co-chaired by ITechLaw members Richard Allan Horning, SNR Denton, Silicon Valley; Pekka Tarkela, Borenious & Kemppinen, Helsinki; Ave Piik, Luiga Moody Haal Borenius, Tallinn; Hele Karja, Law Firm Glimstedt, Tallinn, and Alexander Blumrosen, Bernard-Hertz-Bejot, Paris.

Save the Date: ITechLaw 2011 European Conference - October 20-21, 2011,

Oslo, Norway

oslo We would like to thank everyone who responded to the Call for Papers for the ITechLaw 2011 Annual European Conference, which will take place in Oslo, Norway on October 20-21, 2011. We received a large number of interesting proposals, and we look forward to reviewing them.

We remind members to mark their calendars for the ITechLaw 2011 Annual European Conference, which will take place at the Grand Hotel Oslo. The Grand Hotel Oslo is perhaps the most venerable and elegant deluxe hotel in the Norwegian capital, forming a striking landmark on the city's grandest street, Karl Johans Gate. The hotel annually hosts the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Registration for the 2011 Annual European Conference will open in July 2011.

IVAP Committee Update: Host Firms Sought For 2012 Travelling Fellowship Award Winner

TFA award winner As reported in the February eNews, the International Visiting Associate Program Committee (IVAP) awarded the Travelling Fellowship Award to Mr. Nikhil Narendran of Bangalore during the Annual ITechlaw Asian Conference on February 3 and 4 in Bangalore. The committee is currently finalizing Mr. Narendran's itinerary and we look forward to reporting on a regular basis about Mr. Narendran's travels and impressions of interning with the following six law firms in Europe: Matheson Ormsby Prentice in Dublin, Setterwalls in Goeteborg, CMS Hasche Sigle in Stuttgart, Dr. Widmer & Partners in Berne, Hogan Lovells in Munich and Franklin in Paris.

The committee is now working on next year's Travelling Fellowship Award, which will be awarded at the 8th ITechLaw Asian Conference in Bangalore in February 2012. The IVAP Committee is seeking host law firms in the US that are interested in contributing to the success of the award by hosting the Travelling Fellowship Award winner, which is always a young lawyer from India who has specialized for 2-3 years in IT and/or telecommunications law. Host firms share the accommodation and travel costs of the Award winner.

If European, and especially American, law firms are interested in becoming involved to host future Travelling Fellowship Award winners, please contact Dr. Axel Funk at Axel.Funk@cms-hs.com for additional information.

Kind regards,

Ursula Widmer
Immediate Past President , ITechLaw
Chair, IVAP Committee

Dr. Axel Funk
Co-Chair (Europe), IVAP Committee

Jenna Leavitt
Co-Chair (United States), IVAP Committee

Sunita Jagtiani
Co-Chair, IVAP Committee

Committee Watch - Intellectual Property Committee

German Open-Source Software Licensing Decision - LGPL Infringement Triggers Damages Claim

By Peter Huppertz, Co-Chair, Intellectual Property Committee, Hoffmann Liebs Fritsch & Partner, Dusseldorf

In its verdict of January 20, 2011 (file no. 1-8 O 293/09), the Bochum District Court (Landgericht) awarded the software company adhoc dataservice GmbH a right to information due to an infringement of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) and in doing so allowed the possibility of a claim for damages. Further litigation will be necessary to clarify in detail how to calculate the claim for damages in the event of an infringement of the LGPL.

The software, FreeadhocUDF, is licensed under LGPLv3 and was marketed by the defendant with the product "WISO Mein Büro 2009." In doing so, the defendant breached the license obligations of LGPLv3 because neither the license text of the LGPL was included nor was the source code made available. This infringement of the LGPL was classified by the Bochum District Court as clear infringement of copyright.

Furthermore, with regard to the asserted claim for damages, the court found:

"As the plaintiff only allows use of its software free of charge on condition of adherence to the provisions of the LGPL, the former has a claim for damages in the event of non-adherence to those regulations based on the merits of the case and in accordance with the principles of license analogy even though the authorized use may be free of charge. If one were to support the defendant's legal opinion, the creators of the software published under the terms and conditions of the LGPL would virtually be deprived of their rights."

In what way the calculation of damages on the basis of a license analogy should take place, unfortunately, was not dealt with in further detail by the court. The court will have to rule on this question in a future case. The calculation of the damages according to license analogy, however, should not be a problem in the cases of the "Dual Licensing" of open source software as this can be based on the license fee for proprietary licensing. In all the other cases, however, the calculation of damages will be very difficult.

Open Source Software has been a focus of the ITechLaw Intellectual Property committee and was also one of its major topics at the Berlin conference.

ITechLaw Members In The News

ITechLaw member Benjamin Kerschberg recently published an article, "Cloud Computing Down to Earth - A Primer For Corporate Counsel," in Corporate Counsel Magazine on February 28, 2011. The article provides an in-depth look at cloud computing that explains the technology at the core of the cloud and why corporate counsel must understand it, outlines the legal issues raised by cloud computing and offers specific guidelines that counsel should implement in order to protect their organizations.

Global Industry Briefs

How Will Technology Affect Intellectual Property Rights? - A Look at 3D Printing

By Joren de Wachter, Integrating Technology, IP and Business Models, Brussels

New technologies spring up all around us, and we often underestimate how they will affect the law. New technologies prompt us to re-evaluate intellectual property rights, and the business models around innovation. Look, for example, at 3D printing.

3D printing is a process of using a machine to build, or "print," objects made of plastics, metals, ceramics, and even organic materials like food and biomaterials like cartilage, by spraying very small layers on top of each other, typically with a kind of glue or by melting, e.g., with a laser.

3D printing is today where personal computing was in the 70s. Hobbyists are doing it in their garage, and it is not yet mainstream, but will be soon. The cheapest 3D printers start at around $1,000 and can sit on your desk. Printer materials are cheap, plentiful and often recyclable. Moreover, 3D printing produces no waste and consumes relatively little energy. Imagine, for example, printing your own sunglasses according to your own design and fitting you absolutely perfectly for a mere $20.

This new technology will clearly affect our society in many different ways, and it will have a profound impact on intellectual property rights and their role in business models. Read more.

Submit Your Global Industry Brief

In addition to ITechLaw's quarterly online law journal for members, the eBulletin, ITechLaw often provides 1-2 short articles in eNews each month. eNews articles cover not only short legal updates but also give members an opportunity to share their unique professional experiences as they relate to ITechLaw.

ITechLaw encourages members to contribute to its publications. For more information or to submit your articles, please contact us. Submissions are subject to editorial discretion. Articles not used in eNews may be used in the eBulletin and vice versa.

Please submit articles for the eNews by the 8th of each month to memberservices@itechlaw.org.

ITechLaw Member News

ITechLaw welcomes member updates regarding firm changes, recent publications, speaking engagements and more.

Please send all submissions to memberservices@itechlaw.org

by the 8th of each month for inclusion in that month's eNews.

Submit your member news today!

ITechLaw Welcomes Its Newest Members!
Name	Organization	City, Country
Italo de Feo	DLA Piper	Rome, Italy
Oana Dolea	Hayes eLaw LLP	Toronto, Canada
Anders Ericsson	von lode advokat	Stockholm, Sweden
Michelle Gross	Loeb & Loeb LLP	New York, United States
James Kosa	Deeth Williams Wall LLP	Toronto, Canada
Olalekan Olanisebe	Jus Partners	Lagos, Nigeria
Susannah Sheppard	Kemp Little	London, United Kingdom
Andreas Splittgerber	Baker & McKenzie	Munich, Germany

President's Column
By Sandra A. Jeskie

conference

Dear ITechLaw Members and Colleagues,

Are you taking advantage of all the new member benefits and recent changes at ITechLaw? Take a look at our recent email Ten Changes at ITechLaw You Need to Know About to ensure you are using your membership to its greatest advantage.

This month, we are launching our new Arbitration & Mediation Substantive Law Committee. Be sure to sign up for the committee's March 28th webinar "Arbitrating IT Disputes: A Comparative Analysis of Jurisdictions", which is complimentary to members.

We are also currently soliciting nominations for election to ITechLaw's Board of Directors. Please submit your nomination today, March 15, which is the deadline for nominations.

Finally, don't miss the Early Bird deadline - April 8 - for 2011 World Technology Law Conference & Annual Meeting to be held on May 12-13, 2011 in San Francisco. The conference will include a 40th anniversary tribute, 15 in-depth conference sessions and interactive workshops on cutting-edge topics taught by industry leaders who are experts in their field, in addition to engaging networking and social events. We will also be presenting our inaugural ITechLaw achievement award to a person who has made a significant, demonstrable achievement in technology.

I look forward to seeing you in San Francisco.

Sandra A. Jeskie
President, ITechLaw

president@itechlaw.org

ITechLaw Member Spotlight

kevin_erdman