Trust the Leaders

Issue 16 / Summer 2006

• Patent Trolls According to Scandinavian folklore, a troll is a fearsome creature of mythical origin. There are many forms that the troll can take, but a common conception of the troll is a creature that is ready to pounce on unsuspecting travelers and often steals and carries away people and their possessions.
• Comprehensive Immigration Reform It has been a long, hot summer in Washington, D.C., as a House-Senate conference committee tries to craft an immigration compromise, with politicians from both parties facing elections in the fall. Immigration is squarely a political issue and one of the most divisive issues confronting society today. The news media have bombarded us with stories about illegal immigration, the need to secure our borders and the creation of a guest worker program.
• Open For Business Effective January 1, 2006, Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP opened its first office outside the United States, in Frankfurt, Germany. The Frankfurt office is a natural outgrowth of SGR’s active international practice that, for many years, has represented clients from around the world, but particularly from western Europe, in pursuing business opportunities in the United States.
• Is Atlanta “the Next Miami”? For the metropolitan Atlanta area, becoming “the next Miami” doesn’t involve beautiful, sandy beaches, cool ocean breezes or palm trees in winter. What it does entail is the possibility that a multitude of factors, from globalization to the price of a home in the suburbs of Duluth, are converging to give Atlanta a stellar opportunity to become a center of trading and economic activity for the Americas and a hub for international business.
• U.S. Residency — A Taxing Proposition? Becoming a U.S. resident is an important event in the life of any foreign national. For some it represents only a temporary stay in the U.S., but for many others it marks the end of a long process to obtain what is commonly referred to as a “green card” (a holdover reference to when the cards were actually green), which represents the holder’s legal right to reside permanently in the United States.