On May 4, 2017, the en banc Federal Circuit heard oral arguments in Wi-Fi One, LLC v. Broadcom Corp., Appeal 2015-1944 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 16, 2016) to consider whether the findings of the Patent Trial & Appeals Board (“PTAB”) regarding 35 U.S.C. § 315(b), which governs the timeliness of filing a petition for inter partes review (“IPR”), are subject to judicial review on appeal ...
On the morning of 26 April 2017, the usual rumble of South African Airways (“SAA”) flights taking to the skies was interrupted by a strike by cabin crew employees, organised by their trade union, the South African Cabin Crew Association (“SACCA”). Due to strict civil aviation regulations, the strike resulted in a significant number of flights being cancelled, which, in turn, caused massive inconvenience for passengers ...
A recent South African Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (“CCMA”) ruling has provided clarity on issues of deemed employment in circumstances where multiple contractors are used. The matter before the CCMA involved Shoprite, one of the largest food retailers in Africa. In order to provide its approximately 2,000 stores with stock in an efficient manner, Shoprite established seven distribution centres (“DCs”) in South Africa ...
Following recommendations from a working group formed by the Ministry of Transportation, Ports and Civil Aviation (MTPAC) and discussions with representatives of different interested parties, President Michel Temer recently signed a decree changing the regulations of (Ports Law) ...
The Croatian Competition Agency (the "Agency") initiated proceedings against Grand Auto – an authorised dealer of Land Rover and Jaguar cars for Croatia, after an initiative by the Auto Dealership "Karlo", a former authorised repairer of the said cars for Croatia ...
The Labour Appeal Court ("LAC") judgment in Liberty Group Limited v MM is a reminder to employers to be vigilant when dealing with allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace and to ensure that managers are equipped to deal with reports of sexual harassment. A failure to do so can be a costly mistake, as the employer in this decision learnt ...
In Mendoza v. Nordstrom, Inc., the California Supreme Court responded to questions posed by the Ninth Circuit concerning the interpretation of California’s day-of-rest statutes, which are found in Labor Code Sections 550-558.1. Initially, former Nordstrom employees filed a Private Attorneys General Act action, alleging that Nordstrom had failed to provide guaranteed days of rest to its nonexempt employees in California ...
The Gig Economy So you work in the CBD. Here’s your day: You book a Grab car to get to work; as you leave the apartment, the dog walker shows up to take your beagle for a run and a bath. You’re rushing a presentation for a new client and chow down a sandwich at your desk, brought to your office by foodpanda. The client, a tech entrepreneur who's started an online sales portal, calls to ask you to meet at Starbucks because he needs a chai macha latte ...
Disruption. Possibly the most overused word in today's global lexicon, it refers to the upheaval that is created when a new business (these days, usually founded by a smart alec entrepreneur) uproots an established method of delivering a product or service. Think Spotify, a music-streaming business that has sounded the death knell of CDs. It has, as its most vocal opponent, pop star Taylor Swift, who felt that it did not adequately value her art ...
The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") has issued an update to Publication 5146 (Employment Tax Returns: Examinations and Appeal Rights) which outlines the procedures used to conduct employment tax examinations and employers' rights and responsibilities during and after the examination process ...
EnerDry holds numerous patents based on inventions by its founder and CEO Arne Sloth Jensen, including European Patent EP 1 070 223 B1. This patent relates to steam dryers with a specific type of cyclone, which substantially improves the capacity and efficiency of steam dryers ...
The current Presidential Administration has not exempted work visas from its immigration initiatives and focus. On April 18, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order designed to protect American jobs (“Hire American”) and products and goods manufactured in the United States (“Buy American”) ...
Dispute is heating up over IRS’s attempts to get personal information about users of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. Last November, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) filed a petition in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. It sought the court’s permission to serve a “John Doe” summons on Coinbase, Inc., a virtual currency exchanger in San Francisco ...
The South African Labour Court was recently called on to answer the question whether a trade union, acting on behalf of its members who are employees of the employer, may compel the employer to take disciplinary steps against certain of its employees in order to ensure the safety of the rest of its employees in the workplace. An employer has the duty to provide employees with safe working conditions, as far as is reasonably practicable ...
South African law treats sexual harassment as a serious form of misconduct that infringes upon a person’s dignity and other fundamental rights. The seriousness with which it is viewed by the courts is illustrated by the Labour Appeal Court (“LAC”) decision in MEC for Education (North West Provincial Government) v Makubalo ...
Cybersecurity is one of the most critical challenges facing our nation and our economy. U.S. regulators on both the state and federal level are working to keep pace with the challenges and risks posed by cybercrime. On March 1, 2017, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued a new cybersecurity regulation designed to protect financial institutions, their information technology systems, and their customers from cybercrime1 ...
Autonomous cars have really taken off in the last few years, particularly due to the interest of both consumers and the businesses who develop and improve them. In this context, on April 5 and 10, 2017, the City of Montréal and the Government of Québec respectively announced significant investments in the electrification and intelligent transportation sector to make the Province of Québec a pioneer of that industry ...
A recent article from Business Insider featuring Haynes and Boone, LLP Labor and Employment Partner Jason Habinsky addresses key takeaways from the recently passed New York City bill that restricts employers from asking candidates about their salary history. Useful context includes: Employers should “promptly audit and review their documentation regarding the hiring process” to make sure hiring documentation does not request prohibited information ...
Can computers learn and reason? If so, what are the limitations of the tasks that they can be given? These questions have been the subject of countless debate as far back as 1937, when Alan Turing published his work on computable numbers1. Many researchers have devoted themselves to developing methods that would allow computers to interact more easily with human beings and integrate processes used to learn from the situations encountered ...
In addition to registering their trade marks with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (“CIPC”), brand owners should ensure that their trade marks are protected online. One way of doing this is by registering a domain name. What is a Domain Name?A domain name allows a party to establish its identity on the internet. It assists internet users to easily identify brand owners on the internet and to access their sites on the web ...
On 8 February 2017, the Luxembourg Parliament voted a new law on immigration (hereafter the “Law”) which aims at increasing Luxembourg’s attractiveness as a host country for foreign talents. The main innovation of the Law is to implement a new category of residence permit in Luxembourg for investors. Immigration represents a major pillar of Luxembourg’s economy which has always relied on foreign labour and investments ...
Upon reconsideration in Gerard v. Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, Case No. G048039 (March 21, 2017) (Gerard II), the Fourth Appellate District decided that IWC Wage Order 5 is valid and that healthcare employees may waive one of their two required meal periods on shifts longer than 8 hours ...
All non-exempt employees are required to be paid separately for rest breaks and other non-productive work time. This may come as a surprise to businesses that employ commissioned or piece rate employees, who may have assumed (incorrectly) that the commission or piece rate compensation earned by their employees – often very high amounts – is sufficient to cover the pay to which those employees are entitled for rest breaks or other non-productive work hours ...
In March 2017, the Montenegrin Agency for the Protection of Competition carried out an unannounced inspection (dawn raid) at the business premises of Sava Trans d.o.o. Cetinje, a company engaged in freight transport, in order to collect data necessary for undertaking further actions carried out by the Agency ...
In February 2017, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly issued two memoranda providing guidance on the recent Executive Order entitled "Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements." This Executive Order established new policies regarding effective border security and immigration enforcement ...
