If your trademarks and business names contain letters with accents and you are the owner of domain names linked with them, it is important to familiarize yourself with the following. With a view to offering owners the possibility of registering domain names that comply with French spelling, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (the « CIRA »), the organization that manages the register of ...
November 8, 2011- The Minister of Finance and Economic Development delivered his Budget Speech on the 4th of November 2011. The Budget aims at providing for innovative measures to support key economic sectors (such as ICT/BPO, Tourism, Financial Sector...) and new markets (renewable energies...). The Budget also provides for a National Resilience Plan to support the economy in a global economic downturn ...
Super injunctions and online libel revisited--Injunctions are ‘pointless’, ‘unbelievably expensive’ and counterproductive because ‘there’s an assumption of guilt about which you can do nothing...’ These are just some of the frustrated words of Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson when he abandoned his super injunction (obtained in September 2010 to silence rumours he had an affair with ex-wife Alexandra Hall, whilst married to current wife Frances) on 26 October 2011 ...
We all know that the employment relationship can involve some give and take. Employees today are better educated and more aware of their rights, and accordingly more willing to voice concerns about management ...
A bill to amend the Workers Compensation Act was given 1st reading on November 3, 2011. One of the proposed amendments could significantly expand the circumstances where a worker may be entitled to compensation for work-related mental stress. Where the present section 5 ...
In a Bulletin released in March of 2011, we outlined important amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (“IRPR”) concerning temporary foreign workers ...
Haynes and Boone, LLP’s Immigration Practice Group reminds employers with a need for H-1B petitions that are subject to the annual numerical limit (“Cap-Subject”) that the annual cap for Financial Year 2012 is almost exhausted. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced that 49,200 H-1B petitions have been received as of October 28, 2011, fast approaching the 65,000 cap. Further, the separate U.S ...
On 10 October 2011 the Council of Ministers of the European Union approved a new Directive on consumer rights in the European Union. This directive is aimed at strengthening the rights of consumers in all Member States of the European Union by bringing uniformity to the rules applicable to all European citizens with a special focus on the online shopping sector ...
On September 14, 2011, the Court of Appeal of Quebec rendered a significant decision in the context of the labour dispute which occurred at the Journal de Québec (the “Journal”) in 2007-2008. This decision sheds some light on the scope of the “anti strikebreaker” provisions of the Labour Code (Quebec)1 ...
On June 20, 2011, in Singapore, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the global coordination company for Internet addresses, approved the new program for the thematic extension of gTLDs. This program will certainly lead to significant growth in the number of domain names (gTLDs) on the Internet ...
On June 20, 2011 in Singapore, ICANN ( Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the global co-ordination body for Internet addresses, approved the new program for the thematic extension of GTLDS. This program will certainly lead to significant growth in the number of domain names (GTLDS) on the Internet ...
While employers oftentimes wish to monitor the behavior of their employees, which generally is a rightful intention, it is also the employees' rightful expectation for the employer to respect their privacy and personal data. In this article, we provide a brief overview of the most important rules employers must observe when monitoring their employees.Under the Hungarian Labour Code, an employer may inspect the work of its employees ...
The Hungarian Parliament enacted Act no CXII of 2011 on Information Rights and the Freedom of Information ("New Data Protection Act"), which will replace the currently effective Act no LXIII of 1992 on the Protection of Personal Data and the Publication of Data of Public Interest ("Old Data Protection Act") from 1 January 2012. Below, we briefly summarize the main changes brought about by the New Data Protection Act ...
Since our last summary, the Obama Board has taken significant steps to further outgoing Chairman Liebman’s stated goal of bringing the Board “back to life after a long period of dormancy ...
Six months on from the Davies report, Women on Board’, how much progress has been made towards the diversity at the top of UK plcs? Women are under-represented on the boards of UK companies. In 2010, only 12.5% of members of FTSE 100 companies' corporate boards were female ...
President Obama recently sent to Congress proposed legislative language and analyses of his proposed deficit-reduction plan. Among the proposed legislative changes is a change to the formula used for calculating the cap on the amount that the federal government will reimburse federal contractors for executive compensation ...
As a result of OSHA’s recently issued directive on workplace violence, the cops may not be alone in investigating incidents of workplace violence. OSHA is now in the business of policing workplace violence. In the directive, entitled Enforcement Procedures for Investigating or Inspecting Workplace Violence Incidents, OSHA provides its inspectors guidance on their new role – conducting inspections and investigations involving on-the-job violence ...
The long anticipated America Invents Act (the “Act”) was signed into law today. However, given that certain provisions of the Act are now in effect while others do not come online until March 16, 2013, innovating companies and individuals should consider the impact and timing of those provisions on their overall patent strategy. Below is a link to some practice pointers and strategic tips you may want to consider when operating under the Act ...
Beginning today, September 7, 2011, owners of registered trademarks can file applications to block third parties from registering adult-oriented .XXX domains that contain their marks. This “Sunrise” period runs through October 28, 2011. Opt-out applications can be submitted using any .XXX accredited registrar. The current list of accredited registrars is available here. Registars’ fees vary but typically range from $200 to $500 per mark ...
Since the famous “Facebook firing” complaint in late 2010, many observers have worried that the majority-Democrat National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB” or the “Board”) social media focus was an attempt to establish pro-union, anti-employer precedent, giving employees free rein to disparage and criticize their employers online ...
The decision to outsource is often dictated by financial considerations, with cost saving usually a major incentive, while other important factors might include innovation in service delivery and improvements in service quality. While employment issues are rarely the primary driver in the decision, they can be of vital importance to the success of the project and should be addressed when the transaction is at an early stage ...
The government has recently published a consultation document seeking views in relation to its proposals for business rate retention ("BRR") in England and options for enabling local authorities to carry out Tax Increment Financing ("TIF") within the business rates retention system. The business rates consultation may interest developers, the public sector and those involved in renewables or regeneration, particularly those considering Tax Increment Financed projects ...
UPDATE ON PLANNED PRODUCTION SHUTDOWNS Since 1968, Labour Relations in the Construction Industry have been governed by a specific statute, the act respecting Labour Relations, Vocational Training and Workforce Management in the Construction Indusrty (Hereinafter referring to as "R-20"). AT THE TIME, R-20 WAS ENACTED TO PUT SOME ORDER IN AN INDUSTRY STRUGGLING WITH AN INCREASING NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATION AND REGIONAL DECREES ...
On March 18, 2010, the Commission des Lesions Professionnelles ("CLP"), in the case of Cote et Traverse Ricere-du-Loup (2010 QCCLP 2074), declared invalid section 56 of an act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases (the "AIAOD"). It found that the section was discriminatory because if contravenes with section 10 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms ("Quebec Charter") and section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ("Canadian Charter") ...
The aim of the recent freedom of information (FOI) reforms was to encourage a pro-disclosure culture, and to provide additional assistance and guidance to both the applicant and agencies in processing FOI requests. However, since the commencement of those reforms, maintaining the balance between the philosophy and the practical operation of the FOI Act has presented challenges for agencies in meeting their statutory FOI obligations ...
