Richter des Bundesverfassungsgerichts Betrachten Courts’ Rolle in Arbitration | National Law Journal

Der US-. Supreme Court’s pro-arbitration trend appears intact after oral arguments Monday in a key case asking whether it should be courts or arbitrators themselves who rule on the enforceability of an arbitration agreement.

Consumer groups say the outcome of the case, Rent-A-Center, West v. Jackson, could determine whether courts have any role in overseeing arbitration clauses in labor agreements, which they see as biased toward employers. Business groups, for their part, don’t want courts second-guessing what they see as validly agreed-upon arbitration agreements.

If companies win, this really will be a watershed case,” said Deepak Gupta, an attorney for Public Citizen, which asserts that arbitrators rule against consumers 94 percent of the time.

During the past two decades, the high court has generally ruled to strengthen the enforceability of arbitration agreements. On Monday, few justices appeared eager to change that trend, though several seemed to believe that courts should play some role in checking especially egregious agreements. Dallas lawyer Robert Friedman of Littler Mendelson, representing the business side of the case, urged the Court to continue its practice ofsending very, very complicated matters to the arbitratorrather than the courts

durch Law.com – Richter des Bundesverfassungsgerichts Betrachten Courts’ Rolle in Arbitration.

ICC kündigt Revision des Schiedsverfahrens Kosten

The International Chamber of Commerce has announced a revision of its current arbitration costs and fees. The change will become effective on 1 May 2010 and apply to all arbitrations commenced on and after that date.

The revision does not change ICC’s traditional method of calculating administrative costs and arbitrators’ fees on the basis of the amount in dispute. Allerdings, the rates applicable to each ‘slice’ of the amount in dispute have been adjusted. An increase averaging 0.14 of a percentage point has been applied to most slices. At the top end of the scale, a new slice has been added to distinguish between cases valued at US$ 100–500 million and those over US$ 500 Millionen. In the latter cases, a flat rate of US$ 113,215 will be charged for administrative expenses and arbitrators’ fees will be calculated using rates that are the same, or slightly less, than before. The initial payment required when filing a request for arbitration has been raised from US$ 2,500—the level at which it has been held since 1998—to US$ 3,000.

ICC Arbitration costs were last revised in January 2008. Seitdem, the global economy has suffered a period of exceptional and unforeseen instability. The volatility of the financial markets has created a situation of great unpredictability, not least for the ICC Court. The Court’s revenue is in US dollars, but most of its expenditure is in euros. The increase in the levels of its administrative expenses will allow the Court better to withstand the impact of these developments and to maintain the quality of service for which it is recognized worldwide.

durch Schiedsverfahren.

Internationale Prozessführung: Wie eine Klage gegen einen ausländischen Investment Advisor Datei : International Business Law Advisor

I was recently contacted by a client who lost several million US dollars due to negligent investment advice. Because the firm is based overseas, the client did not know what to do. Leider, this scenario has become all too common in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Whether your claim is against an institution based in the U.S., the EU or elsewhere, you have a number of options. I will very generally touch on them below.

Many wealthy investors rely on foreign investment advisers who are typically employed by international financial institutions.

Leider, as a result of the global financial crisis many investments advisers understated the risks involved with – for example in structured products linked to stock market indices.

Almost all legal systems have a concept of negligence, which would make a financial adviser potentially liable if the quality of their advice fell below that to be reasonably expected, causing loss to a client.

Your adviser is also very likely to be subject to local financial regulation and supervision that might include compensation schemes. But where these options are not available locally, or have proved unsatisfactory, your only option might be to sue.

[weiter] Internationale Prozessführung: Wie eine Klage gegen einen ausländischen Investment Advisor Datei : International Business Law Advisor.

China Litigation And Arbitration. Vielleicht. – China Law Blog: a blog about Chinese law and the legal issues of doing business in China.

People far too often focus on the law or the choice of law, when so often it is not the law so much that determines the best place to proceed with a lawsuit, but the intangibles. The reality is that most breaches of contract in the United States also constitute a breach of contract in China, in Russia, in the Sudan, or wherever else. Buying a product and then not paying for it is, as far as I know, a breach of contract everywhere in the world. Ähnlich, getting drunk and running someone over with your car gives rise to a cause of action probably everywhere in the world as well. I am not saying the choice of law is not important, but I am saying it is wrong to assume it is the most important.

Take negligence. Getting run over by a drunk driver is probably pretty much the same cause of action in both China and the United States and the laws for that cause of action will probably be pretty much the same. But let&nach;s get real here and ask where would you rather have that lawsuit if you are the plaintiff? In the United States where you could put your friends and relatives on the witness stand to testify in front of a jury on how you have never been the same since the accident and where multi-million dollar verdicts are commonplace, or in China where your only evidence may end up being a written doctor’s report and where you will be lucking to get $30,000?

Or take a breach of contract where you purchase a defective part to go into a piece of equipment you make and sell for a million dollars. In the United States you would have a good chance of collecting the profits you lost by not being able to sell your million dollar equipment, whereas in China your chances of getting those lost profits would be minuscule.

durch China Litigation And Arbitration. Vielleicht. – China Law Blog: a blog about Chinese law and the legal issues of doing business in China..

Prozessgericht Abused Diskretion in Reihenfolge gerichtsmedizinische Untersuchung Absent Ausstehende Anforderung für Produktions-oder Motion zu zwingen und bei der Ernennung Special Master : Electronic Discovery Gesetz

In re Art Harris, 2010 WL 1612205 (Tex. App. April. 22, 2010)

In diesem Fall, the appellate court granted petitioner’s writ of mandamus and ordered the withdrawal of three underlying discovery orders upon finding that the trial court abused its discretion when it ordered the production of petitioner’s hard drives for forensic examination and when it appointed a special master to conduct that examination.

While the facts are somewhat complicated, it suffices to say that in the course of discovery, petitioner Art Harris was ordered to turn over relevant “electronic media” for forensic investigation despite the fact that there was no pending request for production of such media, no pending request for production of any kind with which he had not complied, and no pending motion to compel.  The order compelling production was, instead, the unlikely result of a motion to compel such production from a different defendant.  Despite initially indicating that Harris could produce only non-privileged responsive data, the court’s order compelling production of electronic storage media nonetheless included Harris.  The court also ordered the appointment of a special master to conduct the forensic examinations.

In addition to compelling Harris’s production of relevant electronic storage media, the court also failed to address Harris’s motion for a protective order and claims of privilege.

Following entry of its order, the court denied Harris’s motions for clarification and reconsideration. Accordingly Harris filed a petition for writ of mandamus.

The appellate court relied heavily on the Texas Supreme Court’s analysis in the recent case, In re Weekley Homes, L.P., 295 S.W.3d 309 (Tex. 2009), which confirmed that pursuant to Tex. R. Civ. P. 196.4, electronic information is subject to discovery only upon a specific request for its production.  Additionally, the Supreme Court recognized that “‘[p]roviding access to the information by ordering examination of a party’s electronic storage device is particularly intrusive and should be generally discouraged, just as permitting open access to a party’s file cabinets for general perusal would be.’”

durch Prozessgericht Abused Diskretion in Reihenfolge gerichtsmedizinische Untersuchung Absent Ausstehende Anforderung für Produktions-oder Motion zu zwingen und bei der Ernennung Special Master : Electronic Discovery Gesetz.

Windows XP noch weniger sicher als Win 7 und Vista | PC-WELT

Microsoft has released a new Security Incident Reportthe eighth volume of Microsoft’s quarterly overview of computer and network security trends. The report illustrates once again that security can be greatly improved by upgrading to the latest software, and through user education.

The Key Findings Summary points out some of the more relevant data discovered over the past three months. Here are some of the highlights:

• The 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows Vista SP2 had lower infection rates than any other operating system configuration in 2H09, although the 32-bit versions both had infection rates that were less than half of Windows XP with its most up-to-date service pack, SP3.

• Domain-joined computers were much more likely to encounter worms than non-domain computers, primarily because of the way worms propagate. Worms typically spread most effectively via unsecured file shares and removable storage volumes, both of which are often plentiful in enterprise environments and less common in homes.

• In Windows XP, Microsoft vulnerabilities account for 55.3 percent of all attacks in the studied sample. (comparing targets of browser-based exploits)

• In Windows Vista and Windows 7, the proportion of Microsoft vulnerabilities is significantly smaller, accounting for just 24.6 percent of attacks in the studied sample. (comparing targets of browser-based exploits)

durch Windows XP noch weniger sicher als Win 7 und Vista – PCWorld Business Center.

Der Schutz des geistigen Eigentums | USDOJ: Justice Blog

Today the Department of Justice is recognizing  the 10th annual World Intellectual Property Day. Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind –music, literature, Film, artistic works, and inventions. Intellectual property is one of America’s greatest assets. Its protection is central to our economic prosperity and security as well the public’s health and safety. Aggressive intellectual property law enforcement is crucial to our continued success and safety, and is a top priority of the Department of Justice.

Früher in diesem Jahr, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the creation of the Task Force on Intellectual Property. The Task Force strengthens efforts to combat intellectual property crimes through close coordination with state and local law enforcement partners as well as our international counterparts.

Heute, that Task Force got even stronger. Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary  G. Grindler, who serves as the Chair of the Task Force, announced the appointment of 15 new Assistant U.S. Attorney positions and 20 FBI Special Agents to be dedicated to combating domestic and international IP crimes.

durch Protecting Intellectual Property « USDOJ: Justice Blog.

Aggressive Durchsetzung geistiger Eigentumsrechte ist ein Muss | Stellvertretender AG Gary G. Grindle | National Law Journal

Businesses that create and rely upon intellectual property, von großen Entertainment-Konglomeraten, kleine Biotech-Firmen, Make-up zu den am schnellsten wachsenden Sektoren der US-. Wirtschaft. Diese Branchen stellen auch einen erheblichen Teil der US-. Ausfuhr, mit geistigem Eigentum nun mit einer signifikanten - und wachsenden - Anteil des Wertes des Welthandels. Die Verbreitung der weltweiten Internet-Zugang und Fortschritte in der traditionellen Verbreitungswege, wie Transport und Versand, erlauben nun amerikanische Unternehmen aller Größen, um ihr geistiges Eigentum auf der ganzen Welt Markt. Digitale Inhalte, ob in der Software verankert, Bücher, Spiele, Filme oder Musik, kann von einer Ecke der Welt zum anderen übertragen werden fast augenblicklich.

But these unprecedented opportunities for American businesses and entrepreneurs are put at risk by criminals and criminal organizations that seek unlawfully to profit by stealing from the hard work of American artists, authors and inventors. For every new technological advancement by American business, there is, unfortunately, a criminal who would seek to misuse it for his own illicit purposes. Criminals are responding to American innovation with their own creative methods of committing intellectual property crimes — from widespread online piracy to well-funded corporate espionage to increased trade in counterfeit pharmaceuticals and other goods.

When we fail to enforce intellectual property rights aggressively, we fail to protect some of our nation's most important and valuable resources. Der Diebstahl auch nur eines einzigen Geschäftsgeheimnis vonachändig zerstören eine aufkeimende kleine Unternehmen. Wenn Kriminelle verkaufen gefälschte Medikamente und medizinische Geräte für die Verbraucher, unsere Nation's die öffentliche Gesundheit gefährdet ist. Und wenn illegale Produkte wie gefälschte Flugzeugteile oder Raubkopien elektronischer Komponenten machen den Weg in den Markt, sie stellen unsere öffentliche Sicherheit gefährdet.

Angesichts dieser Bedrohungen, ist es unerlässlich, dass die Regierung handeln, und aggressiv zu handeln. Und das ist genau das, was wir am Department of Justice tun. In Zusammenarbeit mit unseren Partnern in der gesamten Bundesregierung, das Department of Justice hat ihr Engagement verdoppelt auf den Schutz amerikanischer Innovation und Technologie durch aggressive straf-und zivilrechtlichen Durchsetzung unserer Nation&nach;s Gesetze zum geistigen Eigentum.

durch Aggressive Durchsetzung geistiger Eigentumsrechte ist ein Muss.

World Intellectual Property Day | Das Weiße Haus

In Anerkennung der World Intellectual Property Day, die US-Regierung in Aktivitäten in der ganzen Welt Eingriff, um die Bedeutung des geistigen Eigentums und unsere Verpflichtung zum Schutz der ihn zu markieren.

Unsere Strafverfolgungsbehörden, das Department of Justice und das Department of Homeland Security, gab heute die Gründung eines nationalen Netzes von Strafverfolgungsbehörden.

Das Department of Justice bekannt, dass das FBI verstärkt ihr Personal, dass der IP konzentriert sich deutlich, durch die Schaffung von regionalen IP Trupps in Großstädten auf der ganzen Nation und das Hinzufügen einer zusätzlichen 20 neue Wirkstoffe auf den Kader.

Darüber hinaus, das DOJ angekündigt, dass sie das Hinzufügen 15 neue Staatsanwälte im ganzen Land, um seine aktuelle Kraft add 200 Staatsanwälte speziell geschult, um die Durchsetzung geistiger Eigentumsrechte Griff.

In Zusammenarbeit, das Department of Homeland Security bekannt, dass seine multi-Agentur IPR Center ist die Schaffung von Partnerschaften mit 70 Bundes-, staatlichen und lokalen Strafverfolgungsbehörden in 22 Städte auf IP Durchsetzungsmaßnahmen zusammenarbeiten.

Und ICE kündigte die Bemühungen einer großen Schwung - Operation Frühjahrsputz – die entstanden bisher in 45 Festnahmen, die Beschlagnahme von 701,384 gefälschte Produkte im Wert von $44 Millionen.

Viele andere Agenturen, die auch auf die Durchsetzung geistiger Eigentumsrechte Arbeit werden sich an dieser gemeinsamen Anstrengung. Außenministerin Clinton und Außenministerin Locke und Botschafter Ron Kirk sind die Abgabe von Erklärungen die Bedeutung des geistigen Eigentums. Es gibt auch eine Anzahl von Veranstaltungen statt, wo heute hochrangige Regierungsvertreter an geistigem Eigentum sprechen, darunter Botschafter Miriam Sapiro von USTR bei der National Press Club, Staatssekretär Robert Hormats bei der US Chamber of Commerce. Ich werde bei einer Veranstaltung sprechen mit dem Vorsitzenden des House Justizausschusses John Conyers, der Leiter der USTR, Botschafter Ron Kirk, der Leiter unserer US Patent and Trademark Office David Kappos und anderen hochrangigen Beamten Commerce, einschließlich Under Secretary Francisco Sanchez. und Botschaften in der ganzen Welt bekräftigt die gleichen Gefühle in den Äußerungen ihre Botschafter ausgestellt und in einer Reihe von Bildungsprogrammen sie halten.

The President has made clear that strong enforcement of America’s intellectual property is a critical part of our plan to promote exports and create jobs.  I look forward to continuing our dialogue and utilizing the expertise out there to harness and protect what has always been one of America’s greatest strengths – the diversity of great ideas.

durch World Intellectual Property Day | Das Weiße Haus.

Dukes v Wal-Mart Stores | Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Stellungnahme| Richter Michael D. Hawkins

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/04/26/04-16688.pdf