With the exit from lockdown in full swing, many companies are recalling their staff to the workplace. This article answers 10 FAQs that employers, business managers and HR specialists must consider during employees' return to work. FAQs Must employers respect health and safety measures on their employees' return to work and, if so, which ones?Yes, to the extent possible, social distancing (ie, maintaining a distance between people of at least 1 ...
During these unprecedented times, developers all over the world are actively looking for solutions to deal with underperforming real estate. For developers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), real estate investment funds (otherwise known as REITs) may offer a solution to the problem. A REIT is a public or private investment fund which is established to invest a certain percentage (as stipulated by law) of its assets in real estate ...
In a decision contrary to current Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) rules, the United States Supreme Court has found the mark BOOKING.COM as a whole is not generic and that combining a generic term with “.com” does not necessarily result in a composite term that also is generic. Background Booking.com B.V. (“Booking.com”) sought to federally register the mark BOOKING.COM, and related variations, for travel services ...
In this article, Aisyah Muhammad discusses whether a party to a contract can rely on the doctrine of frustration in the event of the non-performance of its contractual obligations during the Covid-19 pandemic. Introduction The emergence of the highly contagious Covid-19 virus has without a doubt caused major disruptions across various industries including transportation, retail, tourism and oil and gas ...
Background factsThe respondent, Bina Puri Sdn Bhd (“Bina Puri), obtained an adjudication award dated 31 December 2016 (“Adjudication Award”) against the appellant, Likas Bay Precinct Sdn Bhd (“Likas”), pursuant to the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (“CIPAA 2012”) whereby Likas had to pay Bina Puri certified sums amounting to RM16,439,628.24 (“Adjudicated Sum”) ...
Within the agricultural and food supply chain, significant imbalances in bargaining power between suppliers and buyers of agri-food products are frequent. Those imbalances in bargaining power are likely to lead to unfair trading practices. The Directive 2019/633 (the “Directive”) aims to ensure that agri-food companies are protected against these unfair practices. Scope of the Directive The Directive’s scope is very limited ...
This 14th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, showcases new and evolving trends. Employers are facing claims for both doing too much and too little in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shutdown litigation is increasingly focusing on alleged disparate treatment between businesses and protesters, as well as broadening to encompass challenges to mask requirements ...
The German government launched an aid program to support start-ups and young growth companies in the corona crisis aimed at providing start-ups with liquidity quickly. One of the pillars of this program is the Corona Matching Facility (CMF), where KfW Capital and the European Investment Fund (EIF) are “matching” investments of private venture capital funds (VC funds). The aid is therefore linked to the investments of VC funds ...
What lies in the new frontier of investment regulation? On May 26, the New York Times reported that the US Justice Department had dropped investigations into three US senators’ stock trades conducted shortly after they had been privately briefed on the novel coronavirus in January. The politicians had dumped millions of dollars of shares in Exxon Mobil, tech giants and real estate companies, some of which later lost value when markets plunged ...
A recent opinion, 731 Market Street Owner, LLC v. City and County of San Francisco (Cal. Ct. App., June 18, 2020, No. A154369) 2020 WL 3285962 (“731 Market Street Owner”), issued by a California Court of Appeal in San Francisco provides some relief to San Francisco building owners ...
The new prior authorization regime for economic concentrations in Uruguay passed by Congress in 2019 is in force since April 2020 and therefore premerger control is since mandatory for a large set of transactions involving Uruguay. The Uruguayan Antitrust Commission has recently published the form for market participants to request antitrust authorization ...
Key Points: California Court of Appeal issues two landmark local government finance decisions. Propositions 13 and 218 do not require two-thirds voter approval for special taxes proposed by initiative. A toll is not a tax. The California Court of Appeal in San Francisco has issued two blockbuster decisions in the last week impacting local government finance ...
In an 8-1 decision delivered by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the much-anticipated BOOKING.COM case, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that in some circumstances, a generic word combined with “.com” can be a protectable trademark. Generic marks are not eligible for trademark protection and are not actually marks at all. Instead, they are essentially the name for the product/service or type of product/service at issue ...
The owners of multistate businesses must consider a multitude of factors when deciding how to structure their business ventures, and state taxation cannot be overlooked. The accompanying charts can assist in that evaluation for limited liability companies (LLCs) and limited liability partnerships (LLPs). In recent years, LLCs and, to a lesser extent, limited partnerships and LLPs, have become the popular choice for structuring or re-structuring multistate business entities ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has lasted for over four months, and there is no sign that the number of new cases will decrease soon, though many states, companies and service providers are proceeding with the re-opening of business. The unexpected downturn in the economy caused by the pandemic has adversely affected VC financing opportunities for startups ...
Business in Bulgaria is experiencing a challenging legal environment in the context of rapidly changing emergency measures dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. We have prepared a summary of the key legal measures affecting business in the BULGARIA COVID-19 TRACKER. It will be updated daily, as necessary. Please check regularly for updates. If you have questions, please contact a member of our C19 Task Force ...
Overview - The article lays forth the framework of laws concerning acquisition of real estate in India. The Constitution of India has empowered both Union Government (as known as the Central Government) as well as the State Governments to legislate laws dealing with various facets of immoveable property in India ...
As a rule, an extraordinary notice of termination can be given to a severely disabled employee within one week of receiving the approval of the Integration Office. BAG, ruling dated February 27, 2020, 2 AZR 390/19 Employers may give an extraordinary and immediate notice of termination to a severely disabled employee even after the expiry of the two-week period applicable to extraordinary termination if the notice of termination is given immediately, i.e ...
In the course of the Corona crisis, a large number of companies have introduced short-time work. Funded by statutory unemployment insurance, short-time work is an instrument of labour market policy and pursues the aim of preserving jobs. This does not mean, however, that dismissals during a period of short-time work are legally excluded. In particular, dismissals based on personal grounds and conduct that are not related to short-time work remain possible ...
Many jurisdictions have put in place legislation to regulate merger activities. There have been discussions that it is high time for Malaysia to implement a general merger control regime under the Malaysian Competition Act 2010. As it presently stands, general merger activities which do not fall within two specific sectors (will be discussed below) are not regulated and no prior sanction is required from the Competition Commission before a merger transaction takes place ...
In the corporate world, there is a novel type of enterprise labeled “startup,” which is known for its rapid growth, partly, because of the fact that it is highly related to the general use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the latest business trends ...
Arbitration is one of the preferred mechanisms of dispute resolution in the construction industry. Understanding how an arbitration will unfold is useful in managing a dispute. Most domestic construction disputes are referred to arbitration through, and according to the rules, of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), but other organizations that follow different rules and processes do exist. For AAA arbitrations, the following steps provide a rough outline of a typical proceeding ...
The doctrine of qualified immunity, often invoked by police officers and other government employees in lawsuits alleging civil rights violations, was recently asserted by defendants in a federal False Claims Act (FCA) fraud case. In an interlocutory appeal, a unanimous Fourth Circuit panel has held qualified immunity cannot shield defendants from FCA liability. Citynet, No. 18-1575, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 19367 (4th Cir. June 22, 2020) ...
This 13th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation brings new developments in everything from constitutional law to tort liability. Shutdown cases show no signs of slowing down, and it seems probable that more will follow as some states reverse reopening plans in response to coronavirus outbreaks ...
The sale of a business is often the most significant business transaction in an entrepreneur's life. In addition, the net proceeds from such a sale often represent an entrepreneur's only retirement fund. Therefore, it is crucial to maximize such proceeds by reducing or deferring the taxes resulting from the transaction as much as possible ...
