Recent Cases — Winter 2012
Timelines of Franchisee Termination The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that a motor vehicle manufacturer could terminate a dealer due to the deteriorating condition and appearance of the dealership’s facility even though the manufacturer was aware of the appearance problems more than 180 days before giving notice of termination to the franchisee. The Court held that, because the problems were both evolving and continuous, the time-notification requirement set forth in the Alabama motor vehicle dealer law was not violated. The Alabama law prohibits automobile manufacturers from premising a termination decision on a breach that is over 180 days stale before notice… Read more
New Franchising Laws
Business Opportunity Rule The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has released its final amended Business Opportunity Rule, which regulates the offer and sale of business opportunity ventures. Examples of such business opportunities include vending machines and rack displays. The rule, which is similar to the FTC’s Amended Franchise Rule, imposes disclosure and sales method requirements for such business ventures. Unlike franchises, business opportunity ventures often do not involve the license of a trademark. Furthermore, business opportunity ventures are typically less expensive and involve simpler contractual agreements, resulting in less financial risk to purchasers. Thus, since 2007, business opportunities have been regulated… Read more
Policy and Legislative Updates
Applications for New Top-Level Domain Names Accepted This Month On January 12, 2012, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”), a government-sponsored, non-profit corporation responsible for coordinating the Internet’s systems of unique identifiers, will begin accepting applications for new top-level domain (“TLD”) names. In the past, only a limited set of TLDs have been allowed, including the familiar .com, .org, and .gov extensions. Under the new proposal, companies and individuals may register, name and operate their own TLDs with few limitations. The fee for a new TLD will be $185,000, with an additional annual maintenance fee of $25,000…. Read more