Lindt received a nasty shock just before the Easter weekend. A 12-year legal battle ended with a German court ruling that Lindt could not use the German trade mark registration that it has for its famous Easter bunny to stop a competitor, Riegelen, from selling very similar looking confectionery – Lindt’s registration is for a sitting bunny wrapped in gold foil and featuring a red ribbon and a bell ...
The decision of the Indian Supreme Court to deny Novartis’s application for patent protection for an improved version of its patented Glivec drug – the culmination of a seven-year battle - has certainly made the headlines. There are a number of reasons for this. First, Glivec is a well-known drug – described by some as a ‘wonder drug’ – that’s used to combat cancer, including leukaemia and gastro-intestinal cancer ...
Vol. XI, Issue 1 of SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan's Employment & Immigration Update focuses primarily on the salient provisions of Philippine Republic Act No. 10361, also known as the Domestic Workers Act or Batas Kasambahay ...
Haynes and Boone, LLP’s Immigration Practice Group would like to inform employers of two recent immigration changes: (1) a revised Form I-9 for Employment Eligibility Verification by employers; and (2) a new Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record procedure for foreign nationals upon entry to the United States. Revised I-9 Form for Employee VerificationOn March 8, 2013, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued a new Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 ...
It is generally understood that an employer has the authority to manage and control its employees to ensure its business runs smoothly. In exercising such authority, an employer can adopt and implement policies that govern how employees perform their work. In certain circumstances, an employer can even adopt a policy to control the physical appearance of its employees. However, this power is limited both by legislation and the employment contract ...
The Supreme Court of Appeal recently handed down a rare trade mark judgment. The protagonists were Adidas and Pepkor, and the main issue was whether Pepkor had infringed certain trade mark registrations belonging to Adidas for its famous three-stripe mark. Adidas was founded by a German called Adi Dassler in 1920 ...
The new Family Law Act (“FLA”) came into force today, March 18, 2013. It replaces and repeals the Family Relations Act (“FRA”). The FLA carries forward the basic structure established under the FRA, with some fine tuning to deal with issues not adequately addressed under the FRA. This bulletin highlights the major changes to pension division under the new FLA ...
It is International Women's Day today, March 8 – an opportunity to bring the challenges women face in the workplace to the fore. Laws to protect women being discriminated against in the workplace because of their "family status" have existed for some time. What has been less clear is what the legal definition of "family status" means. Even at the highest court level, it's unclear as there have been few decisions to help define the term ...
On 31 January 2013, the Chinese Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) issued the Fourth Judicial Interpretation on Certain Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Cases Involving Labor Disputes (“SPC-Rules IV”) which came into effect on 1 February 2013. The SPC-Rules IV are based on the current employment laws and regulations and further detail several practice-relevant issues ...
A federal court jury in Illinois found that nursing home operator Momence Meadows fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid for “worthless services” and falsely certified compliance with health care laws and regulations, resulting in $28 million in damages to the government. United States ex rel. Absher v. Momence Meadows Nursing Ctr., Inc., No. 2:04-cv-02289 (C.D. Ill. Feb. 8, 2013) ...
On January 29, 2013, President Obama announced his plan for comprehensive immigration reform. While the proposal to require mandatory, phased-in electronic employment verification has obvious implications for employers, the proposal to provide a pathway to earned citizenship may have an unforeseen effect on employers, as well. While surprising to some, many individuals in all walks of life do not have work authorization but are still members of the workforce ...
On January 4, 2013, Judge Irene M. Keeley of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order that partially granted the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment in the case of Eddy v. Biddle, Barr and Dolgencorp, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:11CV137. Judge Keeley subsequently entered a Final Judgment on January 11, 2013, and the case was dismissed with prejudice ...
Employers nationally continue to struggle with how to respond and adapt to the ever- changing landscape that is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (often known as ObamaCare or the ACA). We at Spilman Thomas & Battle will continue to work with you through 2013 and beyond as the implementing regulations for the ACA continue to be issued. We are working to identify strategies to help employers navigate the process in the manner that best serves their respective industries ...
As most employers know, the federal wage/hour law under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) includes the requirement to pay “non-exempt” employees time and one half of their “regular rate” for work in excess of 40 hours in a work week. The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) is charged with enforcing the FLSA through its Wage and Hour Division ...
It took thirteen years, four months, and five days of heated debates and passionate protests before the country’s first reproductive health law was passed. Four days shy of Christmas last year, President Aquino finally signed the 24-page bill into law. It is now Republic Act No. 10354 or The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (RH Law). The passing of the RH Law, however, does by no means close this chapter of Philippine history ...
Since year 2008 Nicaragua has been modernizing the administration of labor justice. The Ministry of Labor started the modernization with the implementation of an oral process for the fulfillment of certain formalities required before such institution, such as termination of employment contracts for justified cause, collective suspensions and business closures. The implementation of this oral process has been successful because it reduces and simplifies processes ...
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) began 2013 as it began 2012, facing questions regarding whether a quorum of its members had been constitutionally appointed. As we noted in our February 3, 2012 NLRB Roundup, President Obama made three controversial “recess” appointments to the Board to restore its quorum. Now, a year later, the D.C ...
Sixteen years since the enactment of Law No. 7 of 1996 regarding Food (“the 1996 Food Law”), the Government issued the new Food Law (ie Law No. 18 of 2012) (“Food Law”) on 18 October 2012, two days after World Food Day. The Food Law replaces The 1996 Food Law. The Food Law covers three significant areas which were not governed by the 1996 Food Law, ie imports of food; the halal requirement; and the establishment of a new non-ministerial agency in-charge of food matters ...
Haynes and Boone, LLP’s Immigration Practice Group reminds employers with a need for Cap-Subject H-1B petitions - those petitions that are subject to the annual numerical limit - that the filing window for Fiscal Year 2014 is about to open. Over the last three years, the cap has been reached at an earlier and earlier date: June 11, 2012 (FY 2013), November 23, 2011 (FY 2012) and January 27, 2011 (FY 2011) ...
Pending consideration by Congress is Senate Bill No. 3371 which seeks to amend Section 5 of Republic Act No. 7277, as amended, otherwise known as the “Magna Carta for Persons With Disability”. A counterpart measure in the House of Representatives is House Bill No. 5475. Senate Bill No. 3371 proposes that Section 5 of Republic Act No. 7277 be amended to read as follows: “Sec. 5. Equal Opportunity for Employment ...
Pending consideration by the Congress is House Bill No. 3591, otherwise known as the “Alien Social Integration Act of 2010”, which aims to grant legal residency status to certain aliens in the Philippines under certain conditions. The proposed legislation covers all aliens whose stay in the Philippines is otherwise illegal under existing laws, and who have entered the country prior to 30 June 2000, excluding those who already availed in good faith the benefits of Executive Order No ...
The Equality Tribunal (the Tribunal) has directed that an employer pay €52,000.00 in compensation to a former employee after it held that she had been discriminated against on the grounds of gender and victimised1. The Tribunal awarded €26,000 in respect of the discrimination and €26,000 in respect of the victimisation. The award is equivalent to one year's salary. The claimant was employed as a business development manager for a branch of the business ...
