Warranties in technology agreements can be a crucial component of a technology transaction. They provide a level of protection for both the service provider and the customer, ensuring that the services being provided meet certain standards and that any issues that may arise will be addressed in a timely and satisfactory manner. There are two main types of warranties that are typically included in technology services agreements: express warranties and implied warranties. Express warranties are those that are explicitly stated in the agreement, while implied warranties are those that are assume ..read more

When it comes to protecting your creative work, one question that often comes up is whether you need to register your copyright. The short answer is that you don’t have to, but it’s generally a good idea to do so. As soon as you create a work and fix it in a tangible form, such as by writing it down or recording it, you automatically have copyright protection. This means that you have exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, perform, and display your work, and to create derivative works based on it. However, simply having copyright protection doesn’t necessarily give you the tools you need ..read more

Twitter has been in the news lately for what some seem to imply has been a problematic termination of third-party developers from its platform. This is a good occasion to talk about API access agreements in general, what they should cover, and why they are important. An API (Application Programming Interface) access agreement is a legal document that outlines the terms and conditions under which a third-party developer can access and use an API. These agreements are important because they ensure that the API owner maintains control over their system and that the third-party developer understa ..read more

A federal court in Wisconsin allowed a cryptocurrency scam victim to try to find out who stole his cryptocurrency. It found that good cause existed to allow the plaintiff-victim to send subpoenas to Coinbase, Binance and Gemini. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure state that a party cannot seek discovery “from any source before the parties have conferred as required by Rule 26(f).” So plaintiff was required to get authorization from the court before seeking information from the various cryptocurrency exchange platforms onto which he believed his assets had been placed. He filed a motion requ ..read more

An audit provision in a technology contract is a clause that allows for one party to inspect and perhaps copy certain business records and other information of the other party. Often an audit provision authorizes a party that owns licensed technology or software (the provider or licensor) to periodically inspect and audit the customer’s use of the technology or software. These types of provisions help ensure that the customer is using the technology or software in accordance with the terms of the agreement and that it is not infringing or otherwise misusing the technology or software. They ca ..read more

Indemnification provisions in technology agreements play a crucial role in protecting the parties involved in a technology transaction. These provisions are often included in agreements among technology vendors, customers, software developers, and other related parties to shift the risk of losses and legal liabilities from one party to another. Picking up the tab Indemnification is a legal concept that involves one party (the indemnitor) agreeing to compensate the other party (the indemnitee) for any losses or damages that may occur as a result of a specific event or occurrence. Similarly, a ..read more

In a recent trademark infringement case, the court considered whether Instagram users tagging photos of one product with the account of another company’s product was evidence of actual confusion. In this case, the court found that it was not evidence of actual confusion. Plaintiff makes premium tequila sold in bottles and defendant makes inexpensive tequila-soda product sold in cans. Plaintiff sued defendant for trademark infringement and sought a preliminary injunction against defendant. To support its assertion that it was likely to succeed on the merits of the case, plaintiff argued there ..read more

In the case of Dfinity Foundation v. Meta Platforms, Inc., the court considered whether the new logo that Meta adopted after its 2021 rebranding infringed upon Dfinity’s trademark. In the infringement litigation that Dfinity brought over the issue, Meta moved to dismiss. The court granted the motion. Dfinity operates the Internet Computer – a public blockchain network that seeks to provide developers and entrepreneurs with a public compute platform for building websites, enterprise systems and internet services within an open environment. Key to Dfinity’s efforts are “dapps” or decentralized a ..read more

Photo by Evan Brown The issues in the case of Yuksel v. Twitter were whether Twitter, by terminating plaintiff’s account (1) breached its contract with plaintiff, and (2) violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”). Twitter moved to dismiss the breach of contract and RICO claims. The court granted the motion because Section 230 barred the claims and because plaintiff failed to plausibly allege the claims. The gist of plaintiff’s claims centered on allegations that Twitter suspended plaintiff’s account due to deference to the Turkish government. He claims that by be ..read more

A federal court in Delaware dismissed most of the intellectual property infringement claims concerning a competing online room-planning software tool. The court held that plaintiff’s trade dress infringement and breach of contract claims failed, and that its copyright infringement claims failed, except for those allegations relating to the copying of computer code. No trade dress protection where look and feel was functional On the trade dress claim, plaintiff had identified fifteen elements that formed a cohesive “look and feel” of its software. And the court found – based on extensive use ..read more