Israeli Army Tightens Dress Code

The Israeli army has apparently been cracking down and implementing new dress code rules for soldiers. According to one report, kippot with writing on them will no longer be allowed. This poses a problem for some Chabad Lubavitch followers who wear kippot with words on them. I haven't seen any reports about it, but this may also pose a problem for Breslov followers who wear kippot like this:

 

At least one Lubavitch rabbi has said that this is a very serious issue and soldiers should refuse the new order even if it means going to jail. I must say, I don't understand the logic here. First of all, I think the perception in the larger Jewish community is that only children wear kippot with writing on them; adults do not. Perhaps that is part of the reason why many orthodox Jews view such Lubavitcher chasidim as strange (besides their belief that the Rebbe is the messiah.) I think having writing on kippot is a relatively new phenomenon- maybe 40 years old- when women would crochet the names of their loved ones into the kippot.

There is no obligation to express your religious views (or favorite sports team) on your kippa, so if the army says its forbidden that should be the end of it. Perhaps, the justification for disobeying orders comes from the concept of public martyrdom. According to Wikipedia:

During a time of crisis for the Jewish faith—for example, if a government or any other power wants to force Jews not to be religious—every prohibition in Jewish law becomes yehareg ve'al ya'avor, and one is to have mesirat nefesh on every negative or positive commandment even when not in public. This is called "Sandal straps", and refers to the traditional Jewish manner of putting on footwear (Put on right, put on left, tie left, tie right). In this situation, one must die even for "Sandal straps".

I wonder if this one is OK.

It seems a stretch, however, to equate the Israeli army's regulations to a government's attempt to impede the practice of the Jewish faith.

Also, it was recently reported by Israel Hayom that the army is trying to put an end to the practice of one battalion's wearing of amulets containing certain fluids of their girlfriends. Apparently the soldiers did not like this and may be going on strike.

Jews and army dress codes have been coming into conflict recently in America as well. One Chabad Lubavitch rabbi sued because the army would not accept him as a chaplain unless he trimmed his beard. The army subsequently relented. But even American soldiers in Afghanistan have been questioning the army's no facial hair policy because in Afghan culture facial hair is a sign of manliness. An M-16 is apparently not enough.

Patents, Compulsory Licensing, and NPEs

The United States House of Representatives just introduced a proposed bill called the SHIELD Act which is meant to curb the amount of lawsuits brought by Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs sometimes referred to as "patent trolls"), companies that buy patent rights in order to file suit against infringers of those patents. Many think that patent trolls hinder innovation by tying up developers' time and money in lawsuits, but that position is not unanimous. Most of the debate seems to focus on whether software patents should even exist. The bill, if passed, would give the judge discretion to award the defendant with the costs of his legal fees if "the court finds the claimant did not have a reasonable likelihood of succeeding, and for other purposes."

My first reaction to this issue is a question. Why can't a compulsory licensing scheme like Israel's Chapter 7 of the Patent Law- 1967, solve the problem of NPEs? If an entity is not using its patents to develop new products and is just using them to sue infringers, the courts would be able to grant a license to the infringer in exchange for royalty payments to the patent owner. Presumably, this option is not favored in the US where property rights are very strong. They don't want the courts to have the power to mandate a license when it is not for government use. Instead they would apparently prefer to deter lawsuits by charging frivolous plaintiff's with defendants' costs.

For an article on compulsory licensing and NPEs, see here. And for an article on compulsory licensing under the TRIPS Agreement and in the US and Canada, see here.

All Your Work is Belong to Us (for Compensation?)

An article in Haaretz today reports on a recent Supreme Court decision suggesting that the inventor listed on a patent application may be entitled to compensation for a service invention even where he signed an agreement assigning the invention to his employer and waiving his rights to compensation. A service invention, described in Section 132 of the Patent Law, is an invention created during the employees' term of service for the employer and as part of his work which, unless agreed otherwise, belongs to the employer. It is similar to a work for hire in the US copyright context.

I think the article makes two errors (but correct me if I'm wrong).

Guest Post: What to Know About Renting a Home in Israel

By: Avner Slater, Adv.


You are looking to rent an apartment or house in Israel. The first and most important thing on your list should be to find a place you where you wish to live and at the right price. But the terms and conditions of the rent should not be far behind. 

Making sure it's the right neighborhood/community to fit your needs and those of your family, with good schools, synagogues, nice parks, shopping areas etc., is something you would do naturally. Unfortunately, however, people tend to think it ends there. The importance of reading and signing the contract are things which are often overlooked. Amazingly, sometimes no contract even exists.

Understanding the Contract 

Take the case of Avrumi G. from Brooklyn, who is planning to get married during the summer, and is looking to rent an apartment beginning this fall. His fiance hears from her best friend that a distant cousin of hers is leaving the apartment she had been living in for a few years. They get the owner's name and number, give him a call, mail him a deposit and the deal is closed.


But wait a minute! What are terms of the rental? What's included in the price? How long is the lease for? What if they want to leave early or stay longer? Is the rent in shekels or dollars? What happens when the dollar rate goes up or down? Is the apartment fully or partially furnished? What is the condition of the furniture? Is there an air conditioner? Is it in working condition?


These are just a few of the many issues which must be dealt with IN ADVANCE and IN WRITING. You cannot afford to have arguments later over what was said or not said during that brief long distance phone call. There must be a clear and detailed contract which spells out all the details.

Corporate Espionage: Spying on Your Own Employees

In a recent case, (Iskandar Salman v. Ihab Alimi) the Labor Court ruled that an accountant, who discovered that he was being filmed in his office by his employer and without his knowledge for the last 7 years, was, despite his resignation, entitled to severance pay.

The plaintiff claimed that after 11 years of working for the defendant, the last 7 of which occurred under surveillance, he no longer trusted his employer and the fact that his employer surreptitiously filmed him at work constituted a deterioration of the workplace environment such that his resignation should be considered the equivalent of a dismissal and he should thus be entitled to severance pay in respect of the years of service to the employer. The Severance Pay Law- 1963 states that "Where an employee resigns by reasons of an appreciable deterioration of his conditions of employment, or in view of other matters of labor relations affecting him and because of which he cannot be expected to continue in his employment, the resignation shall, for the purposes of this Law, be deemed to be dismissal."

The plaintiff also sued for emotional distress caused by the invasion of privacy. (In case you are curious, the plaintiff learned of the existence of the camera after the employer returned from his vacation, viewed tapes of the other employees not performing their assigned tasks properly- whatever that means- and called them into his office to reprimand them. It was then that the secret filming was revealed. The employer claimed this was the first time he had ever reviewed the tapes.)

My Time at the Networking and Crowdfunding Events

Earlier today I posted about two events that took place this evening.

The first was a networking event at a rooftop bar/restaurant.

I was a bit uneasy about going to this event even though it was a stone's throw away from my office because I didn't know anyone going and I don't really like beer. Also, I am not certified to give advice on Israeli law yet and I am low on the foodchain. I thought about buying a drink to loosen up a bit but decided it wasn't worth the 20 NIS. I did see one fellow sitting alone and we chatted and it turns out he is a software developer with an idea (surprise.) While I didn't give him any legal counsel, we did talk business and exchanged contact info. So perhaps for that it was already worth it. 

Then, Dov Moran, who apparently invented the USB drive, spoke to the crowd. The first thing he did, which was interesting, was to flip the talk around and ask anyone if they had any questions about entrepreneurship/startups before he gave a talk. He also told the listeners not to turn off their phones; "If an investor is calling, it's probably more important than what I am saying," he quipped. Someone asked him how you can get people you work with to give projects the effort that you know you would give to them. Dov answered that if you have that concern then you shouldn't be involved with that person. You should only get involved with people your trust. If you want guaranteed trust, go talk to the bank- that's their whole business. But when you are dealing with people, your team is only as good as the trust you have in them. He also mentioned that sometimes you might meet some entrepreneurs who have a product that does not impress you so much, but if the people impress you then it may be worth investing in them rather than the particular product. The product may change or the company may change focus, but sometimes the people are more important than the product. I think that idea is in the book From Good to Great. Jim Collins writes that its more important to have the right people on the bus than to know exactly where the bus is going. The final thing I heard Dov say before I left for the other event was in response to a question about how to enter a market that already has many players. He said that you don't necessarily need to be the first in the industry (e.g. Facebook v. MySpace) but you do need to be first in some area that only you do and no one else does. You need to bring some new angle to the existing products or do it better.

I then headed over to the Leonardo Plaza, a few minutes walk away for the crowd funding pitch for Sky Saver. I was late but I must say it was very interesting, although not for the reasons you might think.

Networking and Crowdfunding on the Evening's Agenda

Tonight there are two interesting events on the capital city's agenda. 

The first is a networking event organized by Joe van Zwaren, Hanan Brand, and Na'ama Shamir of the networking group Capital J. The schedule is:

19:30 - Networking & Beer
20:00 - Guest Speaker: Dov Moran- engineer, inventor and businessman. founder and chairman of M-Systems, which invented the USB Flash Drive and was acquired by SanDisk Corp for $1.6B. Previously, chairman of Tower Semiconductor & Modu.
20:45 - Startup Open Mic
21:00 - More Networking & Beer (Special surprise!)

The second event is an investment road show for Sky Saver, maker of a series of devices for enabling emergency exit from tall buildings. It begins at 8 PM at the Leonardo Plaza on King George Street in Jerusalem. Here is the schedule:

• Technical Perspectives on SkySaver; Yaakov Nakash, Vice President of R&D, former Chief of Technology in the IDF
• Terror Threats in NY and Financial Implications; Mudi Dzikansky, Vice President of PR, former NYPD representative in Israel
• The Advantages of Using Crowd Funding; Jen Ranaudo, CPA, CFO
• Marketing Strategies for Company Products; Lou Krupkin, Vice President of Marketing, former FBI officer
• Profit Strategies of Exit; Chaim Romano, Chairman of Advisory Committee, former CEO of El Al
• Military Uses for SkySaver; Yoav Barzili, former Commander of Special Forces in the Israeli Police Force
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