Rare Earth in China, Celebrities in California, Feeder Funds in the BVI, More. That’s Right, It’s…

… this week’s JD Supra Buzz. What we learned, FYI:

China’s cutting back on production of rare earth minerals. And that’s a big problem for U.S. manufacturers (King & Spalding) 

Face-to-face meetings with patent examiners might be just what applicants need to present their case (Foley & Lardner) 

Is California the state where celebrities should go to die? (Greenberg Glusker) 

A Madoff feeder fund in the British Virgin Islands lost an appeal to claw back $7.5 billion from investors (Harney Westwood & Riegels) 

Want a piece of the U.S. Army’s $7 billion of contracts for renewable energy projects? Start here (Morrison & Foerster) 

Do employers own inventions developed by employees? Yes, says court of appeals (McAfee & Taft) 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has identified consumer reporting companies as its first “larger participant,” setting off a wave of heightened supervision and reporting requirements (Loeb & Loeb) 

Capital One finds out that the settlement of its nationwide class action suit over payment protection fees doesn’t block a subsequent suit from the states (Ballard Spahr) 

Breaking up is hard to do, especially when there’s a family-owned business involved (Warner Norcross & Judd) 

How to describe the Florida condo financing method that relies on buyer deposits instead of traditional financing? “Buyer beware” (Bilzin Sumberg) 

Time really is running out for taking advantage of the currently favorable estate planning opportunities (Poyner Spruill) 

Q: if a thumb is worth $30,000 and a right eye $75,000, where do you work? A: Georgia (Jodi Ginsburg) 

Louboutin wins. Yves Saint Laurent wins. Our take? The color red is the real winner (Is that Legal?) 

Sometimes the justice system works, and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes both at the same time (The Kaiser Law Firm) 

Entrepreneurs and small businesses need to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, too (Sheehan Phinney) 

Telemarketers doing business in New York will have to register with the state as of November 12, 2012 (Proskauer) 

The Supreme Court has ruled on the Fox / CBS indecency case. So why don’t we have a better idea of what indecency is, exactly? (Womble Carlyle) 

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