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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.

February 23, 2017 - Regulatory
Don’t Get Caught by the Phisherman’s Hook This Tax Season
By: Miriam H. Wugmeister
During last year’s tax season, the IRS warned of a 400% increase in phishing and malware attacks, which contributed to an estimated $21 billion of taxpayer money lost to fraudulent tax returns. This was up from about $6.5 billion lost in 2014. Studies of
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February 23, 2017 - Litigation, Intellectual Property
Supreme Court Restricts the Extraterritorial Reach of U.S. Patent Law for Exported Goods
On February 22, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court in Life Technologies Corp. v. Promega Corp. held that if a party provides from the United States just one component of a foreign-manufactured, multicomponent, patent-infringing invention, that party cannot be liable under 35 U.S.C. §271(f)(1). Life
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February 17, 2017 - Regulatory, Litigation
Court Allows Microsoft to Challenge Secrecy of User Data Requests
In the ongoing debate over government access to private communications the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington rejected a Government motion to dismiss a suit by Microsoft challenging the constitutionality of certain secrecy provisions of the Stored Communications Act (SCA).
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February 13, 2017 - Regulatory, Litigation, Cloud Services + SaaS
Google Ordered to Comply with Warrant for Foreign-Stored User Data
In an opinion that departs significantly from one issued by the Second Circuit in 2016 in a similar case against Microsoft, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that Google must comply with a subpoena from the Department of Justice
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February 09, 2017 - Intellectual Property, Financings
Why Should Your Startup Care About Intellectual Property?
By: Timothy J. Harris
Intellectual property adds value to a startup by giving it the ability to: Exclude others from providing a particular product or service; Differentiate its product from legacy solutions and competition; Demonstrate its ability to innovate, making it an attractive investment or acquisition; Exploit its
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February 02, 2017 - Mergers + Acquisitions
Chinese Interest High Despite Uncertainty
How does China view the United States as an investment market under the new Administration? Despite United States withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and rumblings in Washington about tightening regulatory review on inbound investment and M&A from China, interest from China to invest/acquire
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January 14, 2017 - Blockchain, Intellectual Property
A Rush to Patent the Blockchain Is a Sign of the Technology’s Promise
“A potential patent war looms over the blockchain,” according to a January 2017 piece in The Economist. That fight over patent rights to aspects of blockchain technology is a sign of the blockchain’s potential, according to Morrison & Foerster intellectual property partner Colette Reiner
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January 01, 2017 - Regulatory
Cross-Border Information Sharing for Effective Services
By: Miriam H. Wugmeister
Navigating privacy laws is particularly challenging for multinational companies with affiliates in the European Economic Area (EEA) that share personal information with service providers outside the EEA. All EEA member countries impose restrictions on the sharing of personal information outside the EEA because their
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December 23, 2016 - Regulatory, Internet of Things
The Unblinking Eye: Employee Monitoring in the IoT Era
Privacy concerns raised by the Internet of Things (IoT) have focused mostly on the consumer, whose personal data is captured in a growing list of places. Less attention has been paid to the privacy of employees interacting with increasingly prevalent IoT in the workplace.
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November 03, 2016 - Regulatory, Telecommunications
The FCC “Opts-In” to Consumer Privacy with New Rules for Internet Service Providers
By: Julie O'Neill and Mary Race
On October 27, 2016, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules requiring internet service providers (ISPs) to give consumers more control over the use of their web browsing and other information by requiring ISPs to obtain opt-in consent to use customers’ web browsing history
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