For all of the reasons I wrote about last week, ERP software system contracts are becoming increasingly complex to negotiate and draft owing to the growing number of functions such systems are required to accommodate. Because of the complexity, there are many ways an ERP project can go wrong, starting with how a user defines…
As 2019 looms larger on the calendar, it’s easy to forget what the great Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra said about looking ahead: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Even still, as an ERP software licensing and litigation attorney who has worked in the field for more than a decade, I…
There are lots of ways the acquisition, development, installation and launch of an ERP software system can go wrong, even with a negotiated contract that spells out in detail what the software vendor and integrator will do, when they will do it, and what they will be paid for doing it. Even still, some projects…
If a graduate business school at a major university ever wants to write a case study on how not to do ERP, they need look no further than U.S. National Grid Co.’s series of decisions surrounding its buying, implementing and launching an SAP program for its power generating and distribution operation. It did nearly everything…
A Shady Challenge to A Sunglass Company’s IP The world of fashion and beauty is intensely competitive – sometimes ruthlessly so. But there are occasions the competition slides into the bizzaro-world, when one designer challenges the legitimate trademark of another house just to sideswipe the rival. The outcome of just such a dispute is an…
“Leading from behind,” especially in a law firm and the need to look beyond mere financial rewards. I talk about how we look for attorneys who will bring now just excellence to their work but something more that’s often intangible.
Implications for ERP Users of Teradata Accusing SAP of Stealing IP SAP, one of the world’s largest developers and vendors of ERP software systems, is accused in a lawsuit of stealing trade secrets and intellectual property for 10 years from Teradata to build its flagship HANA platform. While a trial is likely years in the…
Coke Zero’s Out on Coke Zero Trademark Sometimes, even a Fortune 100 company can get in trouble over a trademark protection. Coca Cola’s fastest growing brand is its sugar-free Coke Zero, filing some filed 17 trademark registrations over the years to protect the name. But the Dr. Pepper-Snapple Group contested the registrations, claiming the word…
Back in the 1990s, a business acquaintance had a series of meetings over a two-year period with Zhu Rongji, at the time responsible for China’s fast moving economic reform program but who went on to become the country’s Premier. During a break in one of their sessions, Zhu was taking my friend on a walking…
After allowing its ERP customers to plug third party software into SAP’s software for a number of years without saying so much as “boo,” the German company is cracking down. It just announced a series of significant pricing changes for its ERP software system licenses because, the company claims, its per-user model never anticipated a…