Posted: July 2nd, 2017
By: Jasmine Little*| Guest Writer
![By BentleyMall (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://ipjournal.law.wfu.edu/files/2017/07/Payless_ShoeSource_Bentley_Mall.jpg)
By BentleyMall (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Another one bites the dust. Payless ShoeSource, the largest chain for footwear, recently filed chapter 11 bankruptcy in April of 2017. The chain has high hopes to avoid being labeled as one of the many bricks and mortar focused retail companies that permanently closes its doors, like Sports Authority Holdings Inc. and Wet Seal. However, the odds are not in the chain’s favor. Not only has Payless’ bankruptcy plan prompted questions from its unsecured creditors but the retail market in general is seeing a soar in bankruptcy filings and store closings. The retail industry is most susceptible to liquidating its assets and shutting down permanently after filing bankruptcy than is any other sector of the market. AlixPartners firm research study found that once a retail company files for bankruptcy, there is a about a fifty-five percent chance that it will never reopen.
Continue reading »
Posted: June 25th, 2017
By: Cara Katrinak*| Guest Writer
![Gabriele Giuseppini [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://ipjournal.law.wfu.edu/files/2017/06/Wall_Street_Bull_-_panoramio-768x1024.jpg)
Gabriele Giuseppini [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Big things come in small packages. After reigning over Wall Street for nearly
30 years, the 3 ½-ton bronze sculpture “Charging Bull” is facing off against a
4-foot adversary in Lower Manhattan. “Fearless Girl,” commissioned by
State Street Global Advisors to commemorate International Women’s Day, features a bronze girl, hands-on-hips, blocking the path of the famous bull. While “Fearless Girl” was designed to be the Financial District’s
symbol of women in leadership,
Arturo Di Modica, the artist behind “Charging Bull,” wants “Fearless Girl” to promote her message somewhere else.
Continue reading »
Posted: June 18th, 2017
By: Ralph J. D’Agostino*| Guest Writer
![By kundl (Comida Chatarra Uploaded by JohnnyMrNinja) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://ipjournal.law.wfu.edu/files/2017/06/Doritos_bag-300x200.jpg)
By kundl (Comida Chatarra Uploaded by JohnnyMrNinja) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
There is one first world problem many of us habitual snackers can relate to – with wide eyes you reach for what appears to be a bag stuffed with the answers to your growling stomach’s prayers, then… pop! The air quickly pours out of the bag and the joy rushes out of your soul as you realize its contents were a mere fraction of its container. But is leaving you and the bag hopelessly deflated, a result of caveat emptor or possibly false advertisement? This is the question posed to the Southern District of New York in a
case brought against Wise Foods, the maker of Wise potato chips.
Continue reading »
Posted: June 17th, 2017
By: Maria Pigna*| Staff Writer
It goes without saying that the new age of evolving technology has presented the world with a fast treadmill of development, with no choice but to hop on or be left behind in the dark past. This has left modern businesses and the legal market in a frenzy, with outdated policies and unsettled issues. For decades, great customer service has been about delighting your customers with friendly staff and business policies, but in this digital global economy, the game has changed.
Continue reading »
Posted: June 10th, 2017
By: Thomas Gaffney*| Staff Writer
![By Dllu (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://ipjournal.law.wfu.edu/files/2017/06/Self_driving_Uber_prototype_in_San_Francisco.jpg "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Self_driving_Uber_prototype_in_San_Francisco.jpg")
- By Dllu (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Imagine yourself on your morning commute to work, but instead of sitting behind the wheel you are comfortably reclined in your bucket seat reading the newspaper and eating waffles for breakfast. Does this sound too far-fetched? Maybe not. No one is surprised that autonomous vehicles are currently a super-hot topic in the tech and auto industries. Every big name in the tech industry (UBER, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Telsa, etc.) is working on its own version of autonomous driving software; and why would they not? The first company to develop an autonomous car with driving capabilities better than that of a human will get an enormous upper hand in a market that is projected to be worth at least 42 billion dollars by 2025. No one is going to purchase an autonomous car if it is not safe, however, and some of the threats facing these vehicles are not coming from the road but from the internet.
Continue reading »
Posted: May 28th, 2017
By: Tommy Tobin*| Guest Writer
Are you considering joining a non-profit board of directors? Non-profit boards in North Carolina operate similarly to those of their for-profit cousins but important differences exist, especially with regard to liability exposure. State law encourages non-profit board service and offers additional immunity protections for volunteer board members.
Continue reading »
Posted: May 21st, 2017
By: Cara Van Dorn*| Staff Writer
Computers are learning to do more than drive cars and predict your next online purchase; they are learning to compose music, translate languages in real time, invest your money, diagnose disease, read MRIs and ultrasounds, and even perform surgeries. The possibilities are truly incredible. Many of the brightest minds in engineering, computer science, medicine, and finance are engaged in one of these fields through academia, startup companies, and big corporations such as IBM, Google, and Amazon. Regardless of the field or forum, the limiting factor to the success of any innovation is the same: access to data.
Continue reading »
Posted: May 12th, 2017
By: Katherine Escalante*| Staff Writer
At its core, CloudPets’s new toy brings a personal touch to a stuffed animal. A parent can send a recorded message through an app, which transmits through the stuffed animal, allowing your loved one to hear your voice. However, this personal touch may come at the cost of your personal information, passwords, and access to your voice. Like other toys that connect to the internet, this toy stores all that information in the cloud. With scammers developing new ways of attaining personal information, this purchase is surely something parents will have to think about twice before buying.
Continue reading »
Posted: May 2nd, 2017
By: Brandy Nickoloff*| Staff Writer
Moshik Nadav designer behind Moshik Nadav Typography brought suit against Cher in the Southern District of New York for unauthorized use of his “Paris Logo”. Nadav claimed that Cher, her label Warner Bros. Records and other defendants copied the artistic elements of the logo for Cher’s 2013 album Closer to the Truth.
Nadav has a passion for design and sees typography as a distilled form of design. He has described his work as typography that composes high-end, lush typefaces that perfectly suit any premium design. The Moshik Navdav website displays Nadav’s different typefaces which include Lingerie, Paris, and Paris Pro, among others. Visitors of the website are able to purchase the fonts for use through different types of licensing structures. The right to use the fonts is given directly through the website with the terms of use policy acting as a “binding legal agreement” between the Nadav LLC and the web user. Nowhere on the site is there any symbol or language amounting to a federal copyright.
U.S. copyright laws protect “original works of authorship” in categories such as writings, art work, and music. The copyright gives the owner the right to control the way his work is used by others. A copyright exists from the moment that an original work is created. Registration of the copyright is not required for protection, but is recommended because it creates a public record of the copyright, can create eligibility for statutory damages and attorney’s fees in successful litigation, and, if an infringement happens within the first five years of publication, it could be considered evidence of a prima facie case in court.
Continue reading »
![By BentleyMall (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APayless_ShoeSource%2C_Bentley_Mall.jpg)
![Gabriele Giuseppini [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Wall_Street_Bull_-_panoramio.jpg)
![By kundl (Comida Chatarra Uploaded by JohnnyMrNinja) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADoritos_bag.jpg)
