E-SIGN and EFTA Permit Telephonic Consent to Automatic Debits with Mailed Confirmation–Blatt v. Capital One (Guest Blog Post)
[By guest blogger John Ottaviani. John is an attorney with the Rhode Island and Massachusetts-based law firm Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP. His practice focuses on transactions, contracts, and intellectual property protection for businesses of all sizes. He is also a member of the…
Is It Software? Is It a Service? It Matters for Trademark Registration Purposes
A recent trademark decision from the airline leasing industry highlights the importance of thinking about whether a mark used in connection with software (1) is being used on a product (software), (2) is being used for “software as a service,” or…
Email Exchange Creates Binding Settlement Agreement Per UETA–Forcelli v. Gelco
[Post by John Ottaviani] Forcelli v. Gelco Corp., 2013 NY Slip Op 05437 (N.Y. App. Div. July 24, 2013) E-Sign and UETA cases have been few and far between to date. Perhaps it is because the laws still are relatively…
Courts Struggling Needlessly With Online Contracting Practices (Guest Blog Post)
By John Ottaviani Fteja v. Facebook, Inc., No. 11 Civ 918(RJH), 2012 WL 183896 (S.D.N.Y. Jan 24, 2012) Jerez v. JD Closeouts, LLC, No. CV-024727-11, 2012 WL 934390 (N.Y. Civ. Ct. March 20, 2012) For over a decade, I have…
Can A Copyright Be Assigned By Email?–Hermosilla v. Coca-Cola
By John Ottaviani with comments from Venkat and Eric Vergara Hermosilla v. The Coca Cola Company, No. 11-11317 (11th Cir. Nov. 3, 2011). Can a copyright be assigned by an exchange of emails? Section 204(a) of the Copyright Act provides…
Online Insurance Application Constitutes “Writing” for Purposes of Waiving Insurance Coverage for Medical Benefits–Barwick v. GEICO
By John Ottaviani Barwick v. Government Employee Insurance Co., Inc., 2011 Ark. 128 (March 31, 2011) [link] Although 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have adopted the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (UETA), we have…
Student Loses First Amendment Fight To Call School Officials “Douchebags” After Four Years Of Litigation–Doninger v. Niehoff (Guest Blog Post)
By John E. Ottaviani* *John Ottaviani is a partner in the firm of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, LLP, and is an occasional guest blogger. The opinions expressed are his own, and are not attributable to his Firm, to Eric…
E-SIGN Prevents Enforcement of Emailed Contract Terms–Buckles v. Investordigs
By John Ottaviani Buckles Management, LLC v. Investordigs, LLC, No. 10-cv-00508-LTB-BNB (D. Colo. July 23, 2010). It has been about 10 years now since Congress adopted the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (commonly known as “E-Sign”)….
Top Cyberlaw Developments of 2009
By John E. Ottaviani (Thanks to Eric for letting me post this list here!) [Eric’s note: some of you may recall John, a regular blog guest contributor from 2005-07. It’s great to have another contribution from him.] Eric will post…
“Last Call” Draft of GPL3 is Posted
By John Ottaviani The Free Software Foundation posted the “last call” draft of version 3 of the GPL on its website yesterday for comment. The General Public License (GPL) is one of the most widely used open source licenses. Version…