Author: TSA Press

Well, this negotiation is going to be interesting for some intrepid young lawyer.

From the bowels of Craigslist comes an… interesting ad. According to the copy, there’s a young woman — or in the parlance of the ad, a 22-year-old “damsel” — in need of a divorce. Now, that’s a pretty standard reason to seek a lawyer, though Craigslist is not the preferred way to engage counsel. But things kinda go off the rails when it becomes clear the poster cannot afford legal services. Rather than look for attorneys willing to work for free, she seems to want to avail herself of the barter system.

What precisely she’s willing to trade is left up to your imagination, but it certainly looks like she’s seeking a pro boner attorney.

I shudder to think of the legal ethics of any attorney who might take this woman up on what she very obviously seems to be offering.

---

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

This week, we continue our written interview with Steven Hafif of Cypris regarding his experiences building out a patent-focused marketplace and search engine. Please see below for Steve’s answers to my second and third questions regarding the value proposition Cypris offers for those interested in patent transactions, as well as how patents sourced from leading research universities play such an important part of Cypris’s offerings.

As always, I have presented Steve’s answers below along with some brief commentary of my own:

2. Where are the opportunities for patent owners or prospective licensees to benefit from Cypris?

We operate with a hands-off model, as our objective is to provide tools that can help both sides of the marketplace without steering the connections or conversations in any way. With that objective in mind, we designed patent listings to fill a wide range of interests. Patent owners can publish every piece of information they believe will warrant a transaction, whether they’re interested in a sale, license agreement, or investment. In short, our patent listings provide that medium of communication that until now did not exist. For the buyer or licensee side of the market, Cypris is a tool that not only provides information on what’s available but gives context around the opportunity. You can investigate patent activity within extremely specific fields, then identify how you can get involved by enabling the listed filter on the very same page. If used correctly, Cypris can be a powerful instrument for moving into emerging markets and overall innovative growth.

GK: Both patent owners and prospective licensees have long bemoaned the lack of transparency in the patent market, as well as the barriers to widely communicating information about potential transaction opportunities. In some respects, Cypris is using technology to displace the traditional role of a patent broker, while also helping to bring to market opportunities to access patents from sources that have traditionally been more reserved in terms of allowing access to their portfolios. On the top of that list has long been research universities, which have to balance the desire of their inventors to license and commercialize their patented technologies with maintaining the interest of the university itself in maintaining control over how its patents are deployed.

3. How will Cypris evolve as more universities and patent owners put listings online that lead to transactions?

Although Cypris’s functionality is currently strong, we still consider it to be what’s known in the startup world as our minimum viable product. Our goal with the first iteration of Cypris was to release the minimum tools needed to fulfill our overall objective, which is to facilitate connections.  Part of that effort involved presenting patents in an informative way to Cypris’s users. When looking at the skeleton of a patent document, purely as an instrument for legal protection, it can be quite bare. What interests me is the information surrounding the abstract and claim. Who published the application, at what period in time, and why? Understanding the story behind a patent document can paint a vivid picture of an organization’s or individuals’ intentions within the innovative economy. Taking that organic information that exists within the USPTO, organizing it, and opening it up for user interaction, as a data analyst, is an extremely attractive endeavor and an important piece of Cypris’s value.

So far the response to the site has been great, even with our organic marketing approach. One of the benefits of having this much traction on our minimum viable product is that we get to build future functionality and upgrades based on active user feedback. We’re learning more from universities, organizations, and individuals who are interacting with our platform every day. We have some interesting tools in the pipeline that we plan to launch in the coming months. Some of those tools include: An advanced search engine, supportive analytics for patent owners who are hosting listings, and tools for patent-backed startups that are looking for venture funding. Our ambitions are bold and our technological capabilities are strong; we believe we’ll make some serious noise in the coming years.

GK: While Cypris’s main goal is to facilitate patent-based transactions, offering other patent-related tools represents a worthy contribution to the broader IP community. Many of the technology solutions around patents to date are focused on supporting IP litigation efforts, often at the expense of tools that are more focused on presenting information that can be used to facilitate investment and licensing transactions. Any headway Cypris can make on that front would be very helpful to IP owners, their counsel, and investors.

My thanks to Steve for the insights and cooperation, and I wish him and his startup continued success. It is always a privilege to hear from those brave enough to create tech-based companies around IP and I applaud Steve’s ability to execute on his vision in a relatively short amount of time. I am always open to conducting interviews of this type with other IP thought leaders, so feel free to reach out if you have a compelling perspective to offer.

Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.

---

Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique, and Markman Advisors LLC, a leading consultancy on patent issues for the investment community. Gaston’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.

The workshop follows HWT’s engagement with the Minister of Environment (on legislative reform) in November 2019.

As part of the objectives the workshop sought to analyze the procedures, problems as well as to propose solutions regarding the protection of Harare’s wetlands while discussing potential areas for legislative reform.

Ecologist, Dr. Rob Cunliffe highlighted that Harare was in ‘a real crisis’ due to the erratic water situation which has been worsened by the continued plunder of wetlands in the capital.

He said that in light of the continued threat to the survival of wetlands (arising mainly from construction and urban agriculture) there is an urgent need to classify wetlands as an integral part of Harare’s water infrastructure.

Human rights lawyer, Fiona Illif submitted that application of the law regarding wetlands protection was lacking adding that there is need to address serious loopholes that continue to lead to destruction of wetlands.

She also noted that there is need to increase access to information by communities ‘as quite often, communities are facing challenges to get the information they need to challenge developments on wetlands’.

The challenges and recommendations regarding protection of wetlands, as outlined during the workshop are captured below;

OVERVIEW OF PROBLEMS

• Too much power vested in the Minister of Environment
• Ministerial appointment of the Environmental Management Agency Board
• Ministerial Directives to EMA Board
• Minister not reporting to Parliament
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Appeal procedure
• National Environmental Council not constituted
• National Environmental Plan, guidelines for environmental management plans and environmental action plans not developed
• International conventions on wetlands protection not domesticated
• Wetlands not gazzetted
• Wetlands not clearly defined/determined
• Wetlands not specifically recognized and protected as a water resource vested in the President in the Water Act
• Environmental Impact Assessment procedure is conflicted and not independent
• EMA Board limited in jurisdictional capacity to regulate offenders
• There is no accountability in the City of Harare development permit procedure
• City of Harare’s Department of Works is issuing development permits without Environmental Impact Assessment certificates
• Over- emphasis on sustainable development of wetlands over protection of wetlands as a water resource

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

• Mapping of the wetlands with expert input
• Audit to ascertain the current private ownership of wetlands
• Review of National Environmental Plan
• Development of Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAPS)
• Minister to submit reports on the activities of the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and the state of the environment
• Constitute a National Environmental Council
• Establish Environmental Tribunal for hearings on environmental management and appeals from the decisions of the Director General
• Establish specialized Environmental Police Unit with greater enforcement powers

LEGISLATIVE REFORM RECOMMENDATIONS

• Domestication of Ramsar Convention and Convention on Biodiversity
• President to expropriate wetlands in the public interest (Water Act, Environmental Management Act)
• Wetlands need to be established as protected water resource, not land (Water Act)
• Minister to declare wetlands as ecologically sensitive areas (Environmental Management Act)
• Statutory Instrument/General Notice gazzetting wetlands
• Development on wetlands suspended pending legal challenges. Local planning authorities prohibited from granting development permits on wetlands
• Legislation to be incorporated in a consolidated Wetlands Act with all relevant existing legislation cross-referenced in the Act
• There is an imperative need to work on a Statutory Instrument (through the Environmental Management Act) on the protection of wetlands
• There is need to increase awareness on the importance of wetlands
• City of Harare needs to effectively implement the Environmental Management by-laws once they are gazzetted

Other recommendations that came out from the workshop included the need for increased coordination between government ministries, the Environmental Management Agency and the City of Harare.

Post published in: Featured

Jim Gorman doesn’t need to let anyone go this holiday season. Morgan Stanley’s still No. 1 in trading. It bested estimates in the third quarter. Shares are up 25% this year.

In spite of all that, Gorman feels uneasy. Brexit, Trump, macroeconomic concerns, a general malaise, a certain sense of ennui. Jim Gorman doesn’t know that any of that will turn out, or turn out badly for the (other) House of Morgan. But he’d sure feel a lot better if he weren’t paying 2% of you going forward. So, he’s, uh, not gonna. Merry Christmas.

Parliament Will Sit This Week, Starting Today, 10th December

This bulletin outlines the programme for this week’s sittings.  First, however, is a paragraph that had to be omitted from Bill Watch 67/2019 of 6th December [link] to avoid undue length.

Non-Adverse PLC Reports on Bills Announced Last Week

On 3rd and 5th December the Speaker announced receipt of non-adverse reports by the Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC]  on the following Bills:

3rd December

Freedom of Information Bill

Marriages Bill

International Treaties Bill

5th December

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill

Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill

Constitutional Court Bill.

Coming up In the National Assembly

Fast-tracking

In the National Assembly fast-track procedure will continue to apply to:

• what is left for it to do on the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Amendment Bill and Coroner’s Office Bill [see below]; and
• the completion of the ongoing Budget Debate, to consideration of the Estimates of Expenditure and to the passing of the related Finance (No. 3) Bill and the Appropriation (2020) Bill.

The resolution authorising fast-track procedure was approved by the National Assembly on 28th November.   So far, however, no late-night [after 7 pm] sittings or Friday sittings have been considered necessary; this week may be different.

Budget Business

Both the Finance (No. 3) Bill  [link] and the Appropriation (2020) Bill [link] were gazetted on Friday 6th December and are available for downloading on the Veritas website.  Depending on progress made in the Budget debate and on the Estimates of Expenditure, the National Assembly could finish both Bills this week.

Continuation of the Budget Debate is listed as item 2 on the National Assembly Order Paper for 10th November.  This is the opportunity for individual MPs to make their contributions to the debate; the first few MPs did so on 5th December, following the presentation of reports from all Portfolio Committees.  At the end of the debate, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development will reply to points made by the committees and MPs.  The House will then vote on the Minister’s Budget motion seeking permission to introduce the Finance (No. 3) Bill.

Next, as item 3, comes consideration of the Estimates of Expenditure, for which the whole House will as sit as a committee called the Committee of Supply.  Each vote will be considered in turn.  If the Estimates are approved, the Appropriation (2020) Bill will be introduced by the Minister.  If MPs insist on amendments to the Estimates, corresponding amendments will have to be made to this Bill during the Committee Stage.

Bills

Coroner’s Office Bill

This Bill was amended during the Committee Stage on Thursday 5th December.  The amendments were referred to the PLC for its report on their constitutionality.   As the fast-track procedure is applicable, a prompt report is expected from the PLC today.  The Bill, therefore, has a good chance of reaching the Senate in time to be dealt with this week.
Note: The amendments were not extensive.   Only clauses 7 and 14 of the Bill were affected.  The effect of the amendments is to provide for up to three family members of a deceased (or their representatives) to inspect the scene of death; to allow the family members to choose a medical practitioner to represent them at a post-mortem; and to impose a three-month time-limit on the publication of inquest findings.  An annotated version of the Bill showing the amendments is available on the Veritas website [link].

Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Amendment Bill

Assuming a non-adverse report on the amendment made last week by the Senate see [Bill Watch 67/2019 [link]] and a Third Reading by Senators of the Bill as thus amended, this Bill will come back to the National Assembly for final approval.  If this approval is given, the Bill will have been passed by Parliament and can then be sent to the President for assent and gazetting as law.

Freedom of Information Bill [link]

On 5th December, on the strength of the PLC’s non-adverse report on the Bill [see above], the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs started the Second Reading stage of this Bill by outlining its purpose.  The House then adjourned for the weekend.  Continuation of this stage depends on presentation of the Portfolio Committee report on the Bill by the committee chairperson, who was not available at the time.  Unlike the Coroner’s Office Bill, this Bill was not mentioned in the fast-tracking resolution approved by the National Assembly on 28th November.

Other Bills listed for commencement of Second Reading Stage

Marriages Bill

International Treaties Bill

Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill

Constitutional Court Bill

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill.

Privileges Committee Report on MPs Allegedly Soliciting Bribes

Item 1 on the Order Paper is the adjourned debate Senator Chief Charumbira’s take-note motion of 4th December on the report of the Privileges Committee he chaired into allegations that four MPs on the Mines Portfolio Committee had solicited a bribe from a company seeking mining rights; see Bill Watch 67/2019 for details summarised the report’s findings [insufficient evidence to prove breach of privilege or contempt of Parliament] and recommended disciplinary action for conduct creating an impression of impropriety.  If, however, MPs consider it more important to get on with Budget business and Bills than with this motion, they may choose to do so.

Coming up in the Senate

Bills

There are no Bills on the Senate’s Order Paper for today.  Senators are waiting for Bills to be transmitted from the National Assembly.

Coroner’s Office Bill [link]

As mentioned above, this slightly amended Bill is nearing the end of its passage through the National Assembly, and is likely to reach the Senate today or tomorrow.

The two Budget Bills

Depending on progress made by the National Assembly, the Finance (No. 3) Bill  [link] and the Appropriation (2020) Bill [link] could reach the Senate this week.

Freedom of Information Bill [link]

This Bill is the least likely to reach the Senate this week.

Motions

While waiting for Bills to come up from the National Assembly, Senators will continue with adjourned debates on­ the motion in reply to the Presidential Speech of 1st November at the opening of the present Parliamentary session [the State of the Nation Address]; the report of the delegation to the Pan-African Parliament High Level Summit on HIV and Health Financing in Africa [July 2019]; the report of the Thematic Committee on Gender and Development on the plight of people with disabilities, and challenges faced by women and girls with disabilities in Zimbabwe; and the motion calling for unconditional and immediate removal of the illegal economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.

Bills Awaiting PLC Reports

Having submitted non-adverse reports on several Bills in the last ten days – see above and in Bill Watch 67/2019 [link] – the PLC has only two outstanding reports to deliver to the National Assembly, on the Amendments to the Coroner’s Office Bill [link] and on the Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill, which has been with them since its First Reading on 12th November.

Forest Amendment Bill Just Gazetted

The Forest Amendment Bill, HB 16, 2019 [link] was gazetted on Friday 6th December.  It proposes introducing mandatory prison sentences for lighting fires in State or private forests, and increasing penalties for other offences designated “major offences” by the Forest Act; there are other measures also, for instance, to decentralise to forestry and environmental officers such matters as the adequacy of fireguards.  The Bill also includes provisions designed to  ensure the Forestry Commission Board includes persons with special qualifications in forestry, environmental planning and management and ecology and that its membership and the staffing of the Commission is gender-balanced.  At first glance, the Bill appears to be marred by unacceptably vague, general and ungrammatical language.

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied.

Post published in: Featured

10.12.2019
15:17

by Nehanda TV

Emotional Zim doctors pray for dying patients as hospitals runs out of drugs – VIDEO

* A GOP lawyer brought files to an impeachment hearing yesterday in grocery bags. Pretty sure the bags weren’t from Whole Foods… [New York Post]

* A lawyer is saying that booze led him to swindle elderly clients out of millions. Sounds like this attorney is taking his defense from Jamie Foxx. [Albany Times Union]

* The Supreme Court has declined to review a Kentucky law that requires doctors to play the sound of a fetal heartbeat to individuals seeking abortions. [Slate]

* Attorney General Barr has rescheduled a Justice Department holiday party that was to occur at the Trump International Hotel in DC. I guess my invitation got lost in the mail… [Washington Post]

* An appellate court seemed skeptical Monday about an Emoluments Clause lawsuit filed against President Trump. [NPR]

* A mistrial has been declared in a murder case after the defense lawyer was struck by a car. Hopefully, this does not give criminal defendants any ideas. [Boston Globe]

---

Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Monetary Policy Committee plans to “reject the majority of debts” owed to institutions, a move it hopes will save the southern African nation much-needed foreign currency, Eddie Cross, a member of the committee, said.

The country is unable to pay for adequate fuel and wheat imports.

“We will ask that a haircut be taken by creditors,” said Cross in a December 5 interview in the capital, Harare.

Tlali Tlali, a spokesman for SAA, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In February, the central bank took over $1.2bn (R17.49bn) of legacy debt when it dropped the 1:1 parity between its currency and the US dollar. The Zimbabwe dollar now trades at 16.42 to the greenback.

Cross put the legacy debt at $2.6bn, more than double the central bank’s previously stated figure. He didn’t provide further details.

His comments on legacy debt echo similar views made last month by George Guvamatanga, the permanent secretary in the finance ministry, that institutions owed legacy debt should consider writing down some of the amount.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) in July said foreign airlines were owed $196m by the southern African nation.

Post published in: Featured

Findings from the 12th Annual Law Department Operations Survey – Webinar

Findings from the 12th Annual Law Department Operations Survey – Webinar

BLICKSTEIN GROUP & ABOVE THE LAW

What fictional lawyer once said, “I’ve argued in front of every judge in this state. Often as a lawyer.”?

Hint: The TV attorney, of questionable legal skill, also once noted: “Don’t you worry. I watched Matlock in a bar last night. The sound wasn’t on, but I think I got the gist of it.”

See the answer on the next page.