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Welcome to the MoFo Tech Blog

MoFo Tech brings together legal insights and in-depth analyses on trends and complex issues shaping the global technology industry, covering fields such as blockchain and distributed ledger, cloud and SaaS technologies, driverless cars, drones, FinTech, computer hardware and software, the IoT, semiconductors, and telecommunications.

April 24, 2018 - Litigation, Intellectual Property
Supreme Court IP Decision Preserves Inter Partes Review Process
By: Matthew I. Kreeger, Mehran Arjomand, Brian R. Matsui and Seth W. Lloyd
After the biggest challenge yet to the Patent and Trademark Office’s popular inter partes review proceedings, the name of the game is largely “same old” for today’s Supreme Court decision in Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC , No. 16-712. The
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April 23, 2018 - Telecommunications
EU Copyright Reform Update - How Far Have We Come?
By: Christiane Stuetzle and Patricia C. Ernst
Copyright reform is a key part of the European Union’s package of measures designed to create a Digital Single Market in the EU. The European Commission’s view is of nothing less than a modernisation of EU copyright law to reflect the digital age. For
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April 17, 2018 - Regulatory, Telecommunications
Tune in, catch up: EU changes to TV and radio transmission rules
By: Alistair Maughan and Kristina Ehle
Linear TV and radio services are increasingly being consumed via the internet. Technical developments allowing the on-demand consumption of audio and audio-visual content on different user devices have also changed viewer habits resulting in linear TV content that can also be viewed at times
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March 27, 2018 - Internet of Things
CPSC Will Sharpen Its Focus on IoT in Upcoming Public Hearing About Internet-Connected Devices
By: Erin M. Bosman and Julie Y. Park
The extent and stringency of the legal requirements that the U.S. government should impose on companies that produce internet-connected products will be the subject of a public hearing that Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is holding on May 16, 2018. Informed by data from
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March 26, 2018 - Privacy + Data Security, Cloud Services + SaaS
CLOUD Act: New Legislation Will Overhaul U.S. Laws for Obtaining Data Stored Overseas
By: Robert S. Litt
May the U.S. government compel a company operating in the United States to produce data that it stores outside the country? A new law called the CLOUD Act makes clear that, in the case of legal process served under the Stored Communications Act (SCA),
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March 19, 2018 - Regulatory, Blockchain, Financings, Fintech
8 Key Items You Need to Consider Before Staging Your ICO
By: Spencer D. Klein
With over $8.8B raised via Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) since 2014, and over 1,200 tokens in circulation with a combined market capitalization of over $300B, it’s not surprising that ICOs are an increasingly popular fundraising tool. In this post, we discuss eight key items
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March 19, 2018 - Regulatory, Financings
European E-Commerce Markets: Competition Initiatives for 2018
By: Andreas Grünwald
As part of the EU’s Digital Single Market initiative, the European Commission has been working to identify potential competition concerns affecting European e-commerce markets. The Commission suspects that companies have created artificial barriers to trade which impede the development of the e-commerce industry in
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March 19, 2018 - Blockchain, Financings, Fintech
Cryptocurrency Compensation: A Primer on Token-Based Awards
By: Alfredo B. D. Silva
These days more and more companies are using virtual tokens to compensate and incentivize founders, directors, employees, and other service providers. For the most part, these token-based awards emulate traditional equity-based awards, but they differ from those awards in some important ways, particularly when
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March 08, 2018 - Regulatory, Telecommunications
EU Regulation Reform - Unjustified Geo-Blocking To Be Phased Out By End Of 2018
By: Alistair Maughan and Kristina Ehle
Geo-blocking is the practice of preventing internet users in one jurisdiction from accessing services elsewhere based on the user’s geographic location. The European Commission wants to eliminate geo-blocking within the EU – and has taken a significant step forward in its plans to do
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March 07, 2018 - Financings, Fintech
E-Money and Electronic Payments: Foreign Investment in the Philippine Financial Technology Sector
The combination of low levels of financial inclusion, a steadily growing GDP and high smart phone usage has resulted in the Philippines becoming a key market in Asia for venture capital and private equity investors, as well as strategic players looking for investment or
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