Technical Data

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On January 22, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) released its annual priorities letter highlighting its regulatory program’s points of emphasis for the coming year. The most immediately recognizable difference between this year’s edition and previous ones is that its traditional title, “Examination Priorities,” has been updated to include “Risk Monitoring,” the process by which the self-regulatory organization initially identifies problem areas through surveillance, firm reporting, surveys, questionnaires, and examination findings.

FINRA’s 2019 “Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities Letter” (the “Letter”) also discusses three entirely new priorities: online distribution platforms, fixed income mark-up disclosure, and regulatory technology. Finally, the Letter lists ongoing areas of focus, and alerts firms that it will continue to assess protocols to handle the risks posed by “bad actors” with problematic regulatory histories.
Continue Reading FINRA ANNOUNCES 2019 REGULATORY PRIORITIES

Companies invest vast resources in the development of intellectual property with the legitimate expectation that they will be the principal, if not exclusive, beneficiaries of their intellectual endeavors. Protecting technical…
Continue Reading Creating Intellectual Property is Hard; Losing It to Uncle Sam is Easy

By Louis Victorino and Jonathan Aronie (originally published in the San Diego Business Journal)

It has been noted, the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the world of Government Contracts Law, however, the more things change, the more the phone rings. And while we’re only a few weeks into 2013, the phone has been ringing off the hook. Here are a few of the reasons why.Continue Reading What Does 2013 Have In Store for Government Contractors and Their Lawyers?

By John M. Hynes

On May 16, 2011, the Department of State (“Department”) published its final rule in the Federal Register amending provisions of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) regarding the transfer of ITAR controlled defense articles (including technical data) to dual and third-country nationals employed by approved foreign end-users.  See 76 Fed. Reg. 28174-78 (amending 22 C.F.R. pts. 120, 124 and 126).
 Continue Reading New ITAR Rule on Transfer of Defense Articles to Dual and Third-Country Nationals Creates Substantial New Compliance Obligations

By Louis D. Victorino

A great deal of discussion has transpired regarding recent legislation that reportedly could alter significantly the established “follow-the-funds” test used for the allocation of intellectual property rights in data developed under a government contract. The legislation involved is a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (the “Act”), signed into law on January 7, 2011. In particular, Section 824 of the Act provides “Guidance Relating to Rights in Technical Data” and, more importantly, amends Section 2320(a) of Title 10 of the United States Code, the provision that defines the allocation of rights in intellectual property under Government contracts.
 Continue Reading Frankenstein’s Monster: Data Rights Changes Adopted In The National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2011

The United States has long been the world’s principal purchaser of (a) research and development services, (b) the products generated by the R&D, and (c) the intellectual property relating to that R&D.  Historically, Government-funded R&D has evoked images of an omnipresent, overly intrusive, audit-fixated purchaser bent on levying a host of required terms and conditions on the seller, many of which are wholly unrelated to the underlying R&D and are designed solely to advance socio-economic policies and preferences. For these (and other) reasons, companies, particularly new and emerging companies, are often reluctant to accept federal funding to advance their privately conceived and privately developed ideas.Continue Reading A Brief Guide to Alternative Contracting Arrangements for R&D