International

Outsourcing Firms Bring in the Engineers to Advise, Write Patents

Much like American law firms have beefed up their IP practices by hiring lawyers with engineering and scientific backgrounds, so too are legal process outsourcing companies in India. The Hindu Business Line reports that outsourcing firms are hiring experienced engineers to analyze new technologies and to write patents. One company…

Nov 26, 2007 9:17 PM CST

Teacher Who Let Children Name Bear Muhammad Faces Lashing

A British teacher is under arrest and faces lashing and deportation from Sudan, where she is accused of insulting the prophet Muhammad by allowing children at an affluent school to name a teddy bear after him. Gillian Gibbons was taken into custody in Khartoum on Sunday after parents complained that…

Nov 26, 2007 9:00 PM CST

Chinese Company Wins Rare Overseas Trademark Ruling

In an unusual example of Chinese company resorting to litigation to enforce its intellectual property abroad, a Beijing curd maker has won a trademark infringement suit against a German company. The win came Nov. 14 when a Munich court ordered the German supermarket Okai to stop using Wangzhihe’s trademark, reports…

Nov 26, 2007 7:19 PM CST

U.K. Companies Cutting Number of Outside Law Firms

The U.K.’s largest companies are winnowing the number of law firms on panels cleared for legal work. The average number of firms on a panel is below five, compared to seven last year, according to a survey by Legal Week. Three-quarters of the companies surveyed said they reviewed the firms…

Nov 26, 2007 1:39 PM CST

U.K. Lawyers Long for Offices in India

Attorneys at major law firms in the United Kingdom are notably unhappy about their inability to open offices in India, and will continue to press for permission to establish a presence there, a London newspaper says. Eager to work on cross-border deals, London lawyers at big firms long for offices…

Nov 21, 2007 8:39 PM CST

U.K. Breach Puts 25M at Risk of ID Theft

Updated: A major police investigation reportedly has been launched in Britain after the government’s entire database concerning every child in the country for whom benefits have been paid was lost in the mail. Some 25 million individuals are now at risk of identity theft, due to the loss. The database,…

Nov 21, 2007 6:58 PM CST

Missing Movie Sex Scenes Prompt Suit

Steamy sex scenes cut from the Chinese version of a World War II-era spy thriller set in Shanghai have prompted both warnings (for the many who have searched the Web or traveled to neighboring Hong Kong to view the full, uncensored film) not to imitate those scenes at home—and at…

Nov 20, 2007 6:45 PM CST

Louis Vuitton Wins Hummer-Dinger Suit, Ruffed Up by Parody Ruling

Music lost and humor won in two recent rulings in lawsuits filed by Louis Vuitton. The luxury goods maker succeeded in getting a Britney Spears video showing Vuitton-like fabric pulled from the Internet but lost an infringement suit against “Chewy Vuiton” dog toys. Spears’ “Do Somethin’ ” video features a…

Nov 20, 2007 6:17 PM CST

Another Lawyer Steps Forward to Accuse Samsung of Bribery

A former legal adviser to South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said in a statement released yesterday that he was once offered a bribe by Samsung. He is the second lawyer to accuse the company of bribery. Lee Yong-chul said a Samsung executive gave him 5 million won—worth $5,445—as a holiday…

Nov 20, 2007 5:12 PM CST

Khmer Rouge Official Seeks Bail

Spectators laughed today when the lawyer for the first Khmer Rouge defendant to face charges for Cambodia’s killing fields said his client’s eight-year detention violated human rights. The defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, was seeking bail, the New York Times reports. He is accused of crimes against…

Nov 20, 2007 3:08 PM CST

Lovells Hires Eight Bengoshi Lawyers for Tokyo Office

U.K. law firm Lovells is expanding its Tokyo office with eight intellectual property lawyers from a Japanese firm. The bengoshi lawyers are from the Kubota Law & Patent Office, Legal Week reports. It calls the hires “a remarkable turnaround for the office, which was saved from closure last summer” after…

Nov 20, 2007 2:09 PM CST

India Says Yes to Foreign Legal Work, But No to Foreign Lawyers

A charm offensive by the British bar has failed to win immediate permission from the Indian government for foreign lawyers to practice in what many consider the world capital of legal outsourcing work. “The Bar Council of India (BCI) has released a joint resolution with the country’s state Bar councils…

Nov 19, 2007 6:50 PM CST

Conviction for Sex With Bike Sparks Freewheeling Debate

Caught in the midst of a sexual act, behind a locked door in his own bedroom with … his bicycle, a 51-year-old Scottish man is now a convicted sex criminal. After being literally caught with his pants down, Robert Stewart of Ayr admitted a sexually aggravated breach of the peace,…

Nov 16, 2007 8:51 PM CST

Vinson & Elkins Opens in Abu Dhabi

Vinson & Elkins has opened a new office in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, making the law firm the first in the U.S. with offices there and in Dubai. London-based V&E lawyer Lewis Jones will move to Abu Dhabi to become administrative partner, Legal Week reports. He said in a…

Nov 16, 2007 11:58 AM CST

Gang Rape Victim to Get 200 Lashes

A gang-rape victim in Saudi Arabia who appealed her original sentence of 90 lashes has indeed won a change in the penalty imposed on her for violating the country’s laws requiring segregation of the sexes. But it was not the one she had hoped for. Instead of reducing the 19-year-old…

Nov 16, 2007 12:48 AM CST