Derby has today (21 March 2023) been named as the national headquarters of Great British Railways (GBR) – a key moment in the government’s plan to reform the rail network. Commenting on the announcement, Michelle Craven-Faulkner, partner and rail lead at Shoosmiths, said: “The long-awaited headquarters of Great British Railways has finally been announced ...
People hoping Washington would closely follow Oregon into the regulated use of psilocybin overseen by licensed practitioners faced a delay when a committee of the Washington legislature converted Senate Bill 5263 from legalizing psilocybin services to calling for more research. On March 7, 2023, the state senate passed the substitute version of SB 5263 with 41 votes for passage and 7 opposed ...
In late December of 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (“the Act”). The Act contains a new privacy law called the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act, known as the PUMP Act ...
In a busy Legislative Session, one bill passed that may go unnoticed, but will be of help to Boards of Education. Through House Bill 3146, the Legislature adopted the Uniform Public Meetings During Emergencies Act (“the Act”). The Act was proposed by the Uniform Law Commission (“ULC”), which provides states with non-partisan legislation that attempts to bring clarity and stability to state statutory law ...
Apple Inc. v. Vidal, Appeal No. 2022-1249 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 13, 2023) In our Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit allowed Apple’s challenge to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (“PTAB”) Fintiv rules to proceed, at least on limited grounds regarding whether in promulgating the guidelines the USPTO failed to follow notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedures Act ...
In a decision that will significantly impact Ohio employers, the Tenth District Court of Appeals has ruled that workers’ compensation claimants are entitled to temporary total disability benefits even if terminated for cause. In State ex rel. Autozone Stores, Inc. v. Industrial Commission, 2023-Ohio-633, the Tenth District issued Ohio’s first appellate review of R.C. 4123.56(F), which went into effect in 2020. R.C. 4123 ...
On March 3, 2023, the Court of Appeal of Santiago granted a constitutional petition for protection (“recurso de protección”) filed by a bookstore chain against the Municipality of Santiago for not adopting adequate and effective measures to prevent the installation of street vending in Ahumada Street ...
Amongst the pensions, childcare and other headline financial announcements in this week's Spring Budget, Jeremy Hunt signalled the Government's continued focus on Artificial intelligence (AI) as a targeted growth sector for the UK economy. The Chancellor pledged a £900m investment to support the development of supercomputing capabilities that can underpin the growth of the AI sector in the UK ...
Following on from the recent announcements regarding the India Young Professionals Scheme (India Young Professionals Scheme visa (shoosmiths.co.uk), the Home Office released (rather unexpectedly) changes to the immigration rules from 9 March 2023 ...
?Clear skies overhead, patent marking protects well, innovation blooms.? ?Patent marking? is the practice of labelling a product to provide notification that it is protected by one or more patents. From a public perspective, it serves three related purposes: avoiding innocent infringement; encouraging patentees to give notice to the public and aiding the public to identify whether an article is indeed patented. (Nike, Inc. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 138 F.3d 1437, 1998, p. 1443) ...
More and more employers are introducing paid fertility leave and a fertility leave policy to their workforce. For employers considering doing something similar, we explain the requirements for fertility leave and points to ponder when preparing a policy. Are employers required to provide time off for fertility treatment? There is no statutory right to provide staff with time off (paid or otherwise) for fertility or related treatment ...
The UK Budget announcement on 15 March 2023 is foreseen to include the creation of 12 low tax zones. It is understood these will work in tandem with the 10 freeports the creation of which has already been announced (further free ports are foreseen to be created). Low tax zones and free ports are examples of special economic zones (SEZ). A business that establishes in a SEZ receives benefits, such as lower taxes, subsidies, government resources, pre-built relevant infrastructure et al ...
Reliance on performance guarantees in infrastructure projects has gained traction in Uganda in recent years. A performance guarantee is a legal promise made by one party to another, and typically backed by a third-party financial institution, to ensure fulfilment of contractual obligations ...
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar intends to promote foreign investments in the electric vehicle sector in Myanmar by means of a mix of legal and policy initiatives aimed at incentivizing such investments. For the purpose of this article we have considered the year 2022 as the most critical year for legal regulations on electric vehicles (“EVs“) and have pivoted our discussion on legal developments prior to, during and after 2022” ...
On March 1, 2023, the Department of Education (“DOE”) released guidance related to the instances in which it will require assumption of personal liability for an institution’s continued participation in Title IV programs. Last year, the DOE announced updated signature requirements for institutions’ Program Participation Agreements (“PPA”). Institutions entering into PPAs already agree to comply with regulatory requirements related to financial responsibility ...
Sustained biodiversity loss since the industrial revolution has resulted in Britain being one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. One response to this enduring problem are proposals to use the planning system to mandate biodiversity net gain (BNG) through the development management process. The aim of the requirements is to secure a minimum 10 per cent biodiversity net gain from new developments, with effect from November 2023 ...
In the waning days of 2022, FDA issued an updated Food Code with several important updates. FDA is responsible for more than a quarter of the U.S. economy, and the Food Code impacts virtually every American ...
Regents of the University of Minnesota v. Gilead Sciences, Inc., Appeal No. 21-2168 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 6, 2023) The Federal Circuit’s only precedential patent opinion this week focuses on the written description requirement in the context of an anticipation analysis in the chemical arts. Specifically, it concerns whether disclosures in asserted prior art were sufficient to disclose a claimed molecular structure ...
Malta, as a European Union (‘EU’) Member State, is bound to apply the 2019 Hague Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters, also known as the Hague Judgments Convention, from the 1st of September 2023 ...
On January 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its proposed rule barring most non-compete agreements that would apply to employees. We previously summarized the proposed rule here and here. The original deadline for comments on the proposed rule was March 20. On March 6, the FTC announced it is extending the deadline to submit comments to April 19. As of March 9, a total of 16,965 comments (8,848 electronically) have been received on the proposed rule ...
On January 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its proposed rule barring most non-compete agreements that would apply to employees. We previously summarized the proposed rule here and here. The original deadline for comments on the proposed rule was March 20. On March 6, the FTC announced it is extending the deadline to submit comments to April 19. As of March 9, a total of 16,965 comments (8,848 electronically) have been received on the proposed rule ...
Back in May 2021, the UK Government and India formed a new partnership to facilitate Indian and British young professionals being able to work in each other’s home countries. The Home Office has now published guidance in respect of this on its website calling the scheme the “India Young Professionals Scheme visa”. The scheme is reciprocal so young UK nationals meeting the criteria can apply to live, study and work in India for up to two years ...
