Microsoft Seeks Legal Action Against Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing, has made some statements that indicate Microsoft has fired legal shots against Foxconn, Inventec, Barnes & Noble who are associated with manufacturing of Nook color.

According to Microsoft these companies have broken the patent regulations in which some of the patents are owned by the corporate Microsoft who wants profit off those patents. Mr Gutierrez has made further claims that these companies have refused to fullfill the licensing condition and while he has been trying to reach them in regards to the licensing agreements he admits that he was quite unsuccessful in such endeavor. So Microsoft corporation had no other way and decided to pursue legal action against Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec.

Tags: attorney, corporate, lawyer, legal, legal action, patent law, patent lawyer, patents
Posted in Copyright Law, Latest Legal News, Legal News, Uncategorized | No Comments »

University’s New Planned Giving Director

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

There is a new planned giving director at University of Arkansas.  Renee Brida from Little Rock will be holding office in university development and reporting to Jim Harris, the executive director of gift planning and estate.

Prior to joining the development team, Brida spent almost five years as estate planning attorney for Little Rock’s Haught & Wade LLP.  She held a lot of fundraising positions in Little Rock including Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Pulaski Academy, and East Inc.

Through these positions, Brida was the one responsible for providing legal counsel in relation to organizational processes, developing a program for planned giving, planning & executing special events, running a fund campaign annually, and cultivating major gifts.  She holds a Psychology and English bachelor’s degree from University of Texas and earned Juris Doctor from San Antonio’s Mary School of Law.

Harris said, “Renee’s experiences as a development officer and attorney make her an idea candidate in leading the planned giving office.  She understands that working with friends and alumni as well as raising private gift support create plans that would work best in every unique situation.  So I have the highest confidence that she would do a good job of taking the planned giving efforts of the university and building new relationships to the next level.”

Tags: attorney, counsel, director, Estate Planning, Jim Harris, legal, Little Rock, Planned Giving, Renee Brida, University of Arkansas
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Allan Scott’s Estate in a Family Battle

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

As a trucking magnate, Allan Scott accumulated an estimated $600 million estate.  His two favored children will receive a big bulk of this empire.  However, there is a current rift developing within his family due to the fortune he left behind.

A source close to the Scott family said that some relatives have been angry that Mr. Scott short-changed his grandchildren, as only three were explicitly mentioned in the last will.  The source said that “Zena’s got all the power and money so she can do whatever she likes.”  Due to this some relatives are filing a legal challenge.  On the other hand, his widow, Grace Scott, have not yet seen a copy of the will.  She said the family kept her in the dark about the inheritance.  “I’m very illiterate when it comes to this legal stuff,” she commented further.

Mr. Scott died of heart failure and left all his wealth and business in the hands of his two children, Raymond and Zena as well as lawyer and business associate Tony Johnson.  His will acknowledged that Raymond and Zena should receive a greater portion of his estate because they spent their effort, time, and goodwill to contribute a lot to the business.

Tags: Allan Scott, business, empire, Grace Scott, lawyer, legal, Raymond, Tony Johnson, trucking, will, Zena
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Estate Planning for Ranchers and Farmers

Monday, July 27th, 2009

When your family is engaged in agriculture, you have certain considerations to think of. You should consider if you will qualify for valuation deductions, divide the land into separate parcels, or make a charitable donation.

Practically, subdividing the land to give to children can raise both legal and practical questions. Legal questions include the minimum acreage requirements (whether it can be subdivided into parcels), deed of trusts (whether there are existing encumbrances that will affect future financing), and possible latent contaminations on lots that might become a responsibility to be cleaned up by your heirs.

Practical questions, on the other hand, include the dependability to water (or whether it’s feasible to subdivide the land), one part is locked (or access to roads), and distribution of electricity (or access to utilities). In addition, division of mineral rights and differing values should also be factored into your estate plan.

Finally, estate planning for ranchers and farmers (including vineyard owners) also involve business succession similar to closely held business families. This usually entails life insurance and buy-sell agreements. Moreover, predators, creditors, protecting children’s inheritance against divorce, Medi-Cal planning, and blended families’ estate planning may also be involved here.

Tags: agriculture, deed of trusts, Estate Planning, heirs, legal, parcels, practical
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Five Key Estate Planning Documents

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Avoiding the creation of an estate plan may be due to dismissal of subjects such as taxes, incapacity, and death.  However, the fact still remains that you need to protect your wealth and your loved ones when you’re gone.  So here are five documents that you need to have while you’re still active:

*Will - these are simple instructions to distribute your assets to the beneficiaries after death.  You need to appoint an executor who will designate your assets, while you need to designate a guardian for minor children.

*Durable Power of Attorney (POA) - power of attorney is simply a legal document that will name another person who will act legally on your behalf.  A regular POA terminates upon a person’s disability or death.  However a durable POA will continue beyond disability and will only terminate upon death.

*Health Care POA - same as durable POA but it will authorize someone to decide for you in medical situations in case you’re unable to do so.

*Living Will - expresses your intentions for use of life-sustaining measures in a terminal illness.

*Revocable Living Trust - a type of trust that is often used in estate plans.  When you transfer assets to a revocable trust, your beneficiaries will receive the income or principal according to the terms of the trust.

Creating an estate plan will not be an overwhelming task if you work with experienced professionals such as a CPA, financial advisor, and an attorney,

Tags: attorney, death, estate plan, legal, power of attorney, revocable living trust, wealth, will
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Jackson’s Movie Deal may strengthen his Estate

Monday, July 20th, 2009

Business executive John McClain and attorney John Branca are talking with AEG Live, the exclusive promoter of Michael Jackson’s supposed London concerts.  The late Jackson was preparing for these concerts before his sudden death on June 25; nevertheless, the videotape of his rehearsals could still be used to create a DVD or movie that would be sold to millions of fans.

Reportedly, Sony will pay $50-$60 million for the footage and this agreement would be announced any day from now.  Legal experts are saying that this deal could strengthen McClain and Branca’s control of Jackson’s estate, since they’re proving to the judge that they have the acumen in handling Jackson’s business.

At stake here is the control of King of Pop’s estate that is believed to be $200 million net of his $500 million debt.  Initially, Katherine Jackson, his 79-year-old mother was given temporary control; however, a 2002 will that Jackson signed have surfaced naming McClain and Branca as executors.  Therefore, a judge temporarily transferred control to them while the attorneys of Katherine Jackson are discussing to challenge their appointment.

The hearing is set for August 3.  Moreover, an attorney expert in legal matters including wills said that McClain and Branca clearly have an advantage since Jackson nominated them as executors in his will.    

Tags: AEG Live, attorney, attorneys, estate, John Branca, John McClain, Katherine Jackson, King of Pop, legal, Michael Jackson, Sony, will, Wills
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Estate of McNair in Limbo

Monday, July 20th, 2009

Former quarterback of Tennessee Titans, Steve McNair, left no will.  As a result, one of his son’s family (the one born before his marriage), was laying claim to their inheritance.  This could set up one lengthy legal battle.

David Callahan, Nashville attorney of Mechelle McNair (Steve’s wife), said that she’s determining the net worth of her husband.  A probate court judge in Davidson County granted her 60 days to complete this process as a response to her emergency petition.

The probate court filing states that the heirs are Mechelle McNair and her sons Trenton, 6, and Tyler, 11.  However, she can’t confirm whether the other two older sons of her husband are actually his.  Her husband died suddenly as he was shot on July 4 by a woman he was dating.

Steve McNair’s oldest son is Steven McNair Jr., Oak Grove High’s senior star wide receiver while his second son is Steven O’Brian McNair, 15-year old.  Cotina Feazell, the mother of Steven McNair Jr. did not find any records that the quarterback completed any estate planning or set up trust funds.

Attorneys say that even if the other women were not married to McNair, his sons are still eligible to the inheritance under state law.  There might be certain blood tests or other issues but all they need to do is hire an attorney to make a claim.

Tags: attorney, court, David Callahan, Estate Planning, inheritance, law, legal, probate, son, Steve McNair, Tennessee Titans, trust funds, will
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Draft an Advance Directive to be Prepared

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

Nobody would like to spend time mulling over their death.  However, it’s important to create an advance estate plan that will give you control over any situation when the time comes that you can’t voice your opinion anymore.  Estate planning attorneys’ advice: “You can’t change the fact that you will die.  And if you have the legal paperwork properly filed, you’re just showing that you respect the people you are leaving behind - you’re not putting them through stress and emotional turmoil than necessary.”

Fortunately today, anyone can draft an advance estate plan, which is a legal document specifying the things you want to happen when you’re no longer able to provide consent.  Aside from the distribution of your assets to beneficiaries, these advance directives would typically cover the situations you want when medical staff would attempt to revive you or the kind of life support you prefer to be put on.

At age 25, maybe you would want them to revive you at full blast (even hit you with lightning if possible) but at age 95, you may have a different perspective since you would not want to reach 100 years old hooked to these machines.  Therefore, advanced directives such as these would legally allow you to specify these things before the actual emergency situation when you’ll be unable to give directions yourself.  

Tags: assets, attorney, attorneys, beneficiaries, death, directives, emergency, estate plan, Estate Planning, legal, legal paperwork
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Lessons from Michael Jackson

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Before he died, it’s a good thing that Michael Jackson made a smart estate plan.  He provided and cared for his loved ones because a separate document gathered his assets (estimated to be over $500 million, which exceeds his debt by $200 million).  It’s called a family trust - this ensures that his affairs would stay out of court and out of the eyes of the public.

He established this trust along with his will, and it’s also called a “living or revocable trust.”  The goal of this estate-planning tool would be to transfer all the property - including real estate, bank accounts, and cars - into a separate owned entity while maintaining the control as a trustee.  In Jackson’s case, he established a “Michael Jackson Family Trust.”

At his death, the control will be transferred to his successor trustee or co-trustee.  Most people (Jackson included) will set it up to “pour over” - this means that whatever assets remain outside of the trust would be eventually be added to the estate at their death.

The beauty of this trust is: people can avoid a public process called probate.  Aside from celebrities, this process would also make sense for people with significant assets because it would spare their heirs from a prolonged legal process.

Tags: assets, co-trustee, estate plan, Family Trust, legal, living trust, Michael Jackson, probate, revocable trust, successor trustee, trust, trustee, will
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Make Estate Planning Your First Step after Divorce

Monday, July 6th, 2009

The last thing that people want to do after a divorce is to consult another attorney.  But regardless of your age and whether you have kids or not, it’s important to consult legal and financial experts to ensure that your financial plans and estate are updated in terms of reflecting your new circumstances.

So if you’re not working with an estate planning attorney or financial consultant during your divorce, it’s time for you to do it now.  A financial planner will look at your finances. Your expenses as a new single individual can grow unexpectedly; a financial planning professional helps you compare strategies and review your new savings and spending needs.

Also, talk with an attorney that has numerous experiences in real estate.  If you plan to remarry one day and you have kids, make sure that your specific assets will go to them (guaranteed) when you die.  This is because some cases happen when the ex-spouse may automatically gain full control of assets earmarked for your kids.  Of course you don’t want this to happen - that’s why you must plan for it legally.

If your children are still minors, it would also be wise to plan the guardianship for them.  Especially when there are wealth issues that’ll only become effective when they reach adulthood, it’s critical to establish a solid and efficient legal structure to distribute those assets.

Tags: attorney, Divorce, estate, Estate Planning, estate planning attorney, experts, financial, financial planner, legal, minors, plans
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