Happy Halloween

     From all of us at the Henry Park Law, may you have a safe and fun filled day (and night).




- Henry Park and Joseph J. DiDonato

Daylight Saving Time ends in Europe

     This Sunday, October 30th, will mark the end of daylight saving time (DST) for countries in Europe.  This means that the standard number of hours separating the U.S. from the other parts of the world will decrease by one hour.  An exception to this rule is Iceland, which does not observe DST.

     For the next week until November 6th, the difference between New York, NY and Zurich, Switzerland is five (5) hours, instead of the standard six (6) hours

https://www.timeanddate.com/time/change/switzerland/zurich

- Henry Park

updated on 10/30

Voting in the General Election

     As a registered absentee voter, I received yesterday the following letter.



     And, in that letter was ballot for the general election.



     Yes.  I will be voting.

- Henry Park

USPTO - Java Web Start is almost here

     This is an update to my September 13th post.

     The USPTO announced on its website, link, that its interim authentication method will be available starting on October 24th.


     And, sure enough, they sent on October 21st an email making that same announcement in case you didn't see the website announcement.

     Additionally, they published a bit more information about Java Web Start, link. 

The key take away is that you will be downloading a JNLP file, and running that file using Java:

     My, oh my, wouldn't it be great if they consolidated all of this information into one location.

- Henry Park

updated on 10/23

USPTO and Java v8 update 111 build 14

    On my Macintosh, I received a notice that there is an updated version of Java v8 update 111 build 14 (released on October 18).

 

      I called the US Patent Electronic Business Center (EBC), and talked to Agent 44. She said that they have not yet tested the update, and that she suggested holding off on the update for a few days.

      A colleague mentioned that the EBC has approved this release of Java.

- Henry Park

updated 10/27

Contracts - Be careful with your choice of law provisions in EU consumer contracts

     On July 28, 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) held that a choice of law provision in a e-commerce website's terms and condition could be unfair to consumers.  Verein für Konsumenteninformation v. Amazon EU Sàrl, Case C-191/15.

      In this case, the 2012 version of the Terms and Conditions of Amazon Germany's website (amazon.de) contained a choice of law provision requiring Luxembourg law.  Case C-191/15, at ¶ 30.  Applying the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts of 1993, Directive 93/13/EEC, the ECJ found the choice of law provision could be unfair if it leads Austrian consumers to believe that only Luxembourg law applies when in fact, the consumer has certain mandatory rights under Austrian law.  The ECJ then sent the case back to the Austrian court, which had asked the ECJ to examine this question, for a determination as to whether the choice of law provision was unfair.

      What does this mean for you?

      If you have a choice of law provision in your EU consumer contracts, you should examine those provisions carefully to determine whether you need to add some qualifying language about the consumer not waiving any rights under their national laws.

 - Henry Park

Reciprocity - New Jersey's list is growing

    This is an update to my earlier April 18th, August 19th, and September 1st posts.

    31 jurisdictions now have reciprocity with New Jersey; with six of them in the last month and a half: District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.



     My big question:  When will New York and New Jersey strike a reciprocity arrangement?

- Henry Park