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In Lexmark Int’l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc., (U.S., No. 12-873, 3/25/14), the U.S. Supreme Court recently determined that a company can assert a false advertising claim against a non-competitor under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act if it can “show economic or reputational injury flowing directly from the deception wrought by the defendant’s …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/04/non-competitor-can-get-false-advertising-damages/
Historically, loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) that were paid before maturity were subject to interest charges for the full final month in which they were repaid. Not surprisingly, home sellers with closing dates early in the month have long complained about this practice, which increases their transaction costs. In arguing against the …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/04/fha-to-eliminate-phantom-interest-charges-for-future-borrowers/
A New Jersey man recently entered a guilty plea for his ongoing theft of quarters derived from parking meters. The individual, who had access to the room where the parking meter change was kept, took “handfuls” of change on a regular basis over approximately two years. At the end of the period, the theft had …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/03/quarter-theft-stacks-up/
Protiviti’s 2014 Internal Audit Capabilities and Needs Survey Report queried more than 600 internal audit professionals about the social media risks that threaten their businesses. The five largest are: Financial loss Interrupted business continuity Loss of intellectual property Loss of employee productivity Viruses and malware However, despite this awareness of the risks, many companies are still not adequately …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/03/internal-audits-top-priorities-include-social-media/
The Eastern District of Texas is well known for its intense patent activity and already provides early disclosure of infringement and invalidity contentions to facilitate faster resolution of these cases. The Court has now taken similar action by providing an option for accelerated damage discovery, including requiring a two week turnaround between defendant’s production of …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/03/new-path-for-accelerated-discovery-requires-immediate-expert-assistance/
The Supreme Court has held in the case of Lawson v. FMR LLC that the whistleblower protection available under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”) properly extends to employees of privately held contractors and subcontractors who perform work for a public company. Although the case in question was brought by employees of advisors to a …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/03/sox-whistleblower-protection-extend-to-certain-private-company-employees/
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) is requesting input from stakeholders regarding FASB Statement No. 157, Fair Value Measurements, (“157”). 157 provides a single definition of fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. A Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) review team found that some investors were struggling to understand the use of …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/03/fasb-wants-to-hear-from-stakeholders-on-fair-value-measurements/
In Plantronics, Inc.v. ALIPH, Inc, ALIPH was successful in its bid to exclude the report of Plaintiff’s infringement expert in this case involving the fit of ear buds. The Court found that the expert did very little analysis in order to conclude infringement: “Professor Katz never conducted any quantitative analysis (i.e., size, measurements, dimensions, or …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/03/court-strikes-expert-for-parroting/
Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported the shocking headline “One in Three Audits Fail, PCAOB Chief Auditors Says”. The PCAOB is the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, so such a statement certainly has the ability to rattle not only the the audit community, but all users of audited financials. Reading the context of the quote …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/03/pcaob-quote-regarding-audit-failure-rate-raises-concerns/
In association with general cost cutting measures over recent years, many companies have pressured their vendors to reduce fees. This downward pressure has extended to the accounting firms hired to provide independent audit opinions, resulting in a significant drop in audit fees. According to Audit Analytics, audit fees in 2012 were $472 per $1 million …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/03/reducing-audit-fees-increases-restatement-risk/
