Stories of trade marks becoming generic - which may have the result that trade mark registrations become vulnerable to cancellation - are rare. Yet there have been a number of examples recently. In March 2014, there was a decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that dealt with a claim that a trade mark registration for Kornspitz should be cancelled because the word had become generic ...
The Industrial Property Bill that was passed on the 22nd August 2013 was accepted into Ugandan law on the 6th January 2014. This Bill brings about various changes in the law protecting inventions, creations and designs in Uganda, and is intended to support development in the private sector and promote private investment ...
Clients unfamiliar with patent prosecution are often surprised to learn that few patent applications receive a first-action allowance, or FAA. There are even rankings of law firms that receive the most FAAs each year. But what does an FAA signify? Is it a cause to celebrate, or to conduct a post-mortem? The answer is, of course, “it depends ...
On April 15, 2014, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (the “Privacy Commissioner”) issued a report regarding the use of police information checks in British Columbia (the “Report”). The main focus of the Report is the scope of information provided in police information checks ...
The D.C. Circuit recently expanded the scope of the False Claims Act’s first-to-file defense. See United States ex rel. Shea v. Cellco Partnership, __ F.3d __, 2014 WL 1294687 (D.C. Cir. April 11, 2014). The court concluded that this defense – which bars FCA suits based on facts related to a “pending action” – applies even after the first action is dismissed ...
Although a federal court recently ruled that the United States Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) has the authority to regulate data security practices, a clinical testing laboratory is arguing that the FTC’s regulatory authority does not extend to entities covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) ...
Launching a market inquiry into a certain, seemingly problematic sector of the South African economy is not a new modus operandi for the South African Competition Commission (the “SA Commission”). In the past the SA Commission has relied upon general powers found in the Competition Act, No. 89 of 1998 (as amended) (the “Competition Act”) to conduct a market inquiry into the retail banking sector (the “Banking Inquiry”) and the supermarket sector (the “Supermarket Inquiry”) ...
Beleaguered companies suffering from data breaches got more bad news when a federal judge held that the United States Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) has the authority to regulate corporate cybersecurity practices ...
Beleaguered companies suffering from data breaches got more bad news when a federal judge held that the United States Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) has the authority to regulate corporate cybersecurity practices ...
CCTV surveillance is becoming increasingly prevalent in every aspect of our lives. Recognizable images of people captured by CCTV cameras constitute "personal data" as defined in the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003 ("the DPAs"). Accordingly, all use of CCTV by employers must be undertaken in compliance with the DPAs ...
To strengthen the competitiveness of retail trading businesses carried out by modern stores and shopping centers, the Minister of Trade issued Regulation Number 70/M-DAG/PER/12/2013 on 12 December 2013 concerning Guidelines on Administrating and Fostering Traditional Markets, Shopping Centers, and Modern Shops (Reg. 70). Reg ...
Foreign manpower recruitment procedures as set out under Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Regulation No. PER.02/MEN/III/2008 were considered no longer applicable given the development of manpower nowadays, and therefore the Minister of Manpower and Transmigration promulgated Regulation No. 12 of 2013 on Procedures for Recruiting Foreign Manpower which came into effect as of 30 December 2013 ...
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation No. 38 of 2013 on Compensations for Land, Buildings, and Plants Located under High Voltage Air Channels (SUTT) and Extra High Voltage Air Channels and Free Spaces (SUTET) has been enforced as of 24 December 2013. The Regulation provides the procedures as well as formula for compensation for the owners of impacted land, buildings, and plant due the establishment of electricity infrastructure ...
On 29 July 2013, the Indonesian Minister of Trade (MOT) issued Regulation No. 35/M-DAG/PER/7/2013 on Affixing Retail Prices and Tariffs to Goods and Services (Reg. 35). The Regulation came into effect 6 months as of its enactment, i.e. on 29 January 2014. It is an implementing regulation of Law Number 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection. Two of its provisions will have a significant impact on businesses in Indonesia ...
An amendment to Law No. 30 of 2004 pertaining to Notary was issued on 15 January 2014 (Law No. 2 of 2014). The amendment came into force on its issuance date and various amended provisions were introduced, such us provisions on requirements for the appointment of a notary, confirmation of the Indonesian language as the formal language of a notarial deed or obligations of a notary and restriction on double positions. A number of interesting points were also addressed ...
What to Know When Pursuing Coverage For A Cyber/Privacy Breach During an investor conference call on Wednesday, February 26, Target CFO John Mulligan reported that the highest profile data breach of 2013 cost the retailer $61 million in out-of-pocket expenses during the fourth quarter, of which $44 million was covered by insurance ...
In the last few years, pension deemed trust issues have been a subject of debate before the courts. The Supreme Court of Canada itself addressed some of these issues in the Indalex case ...
The latest tribunal statistics published by the Ministry of Justice this month indicate a significant fall in the number of employment tribunal claims following the introduction of tribunal fees in July of last year.The number of claims brought in October to December 2013 was down to only 9,801, a whopping 79% fewer than the same period in 2012, and 75% fewer than the previous quarter ...
On Sunday 6 April 2014 a number of changes will be made to employment law. We have put together this list of 5 changes we think you need to know about: Discrimination questionnaires abolished. Section 138 of the Equality Act 2010 allowed employees to serve a formal questionnaire on employers about discrimination matters. If an employer failed to answer fully, the tribunal could draw an adverse inference from such failure. From 6 April 2014 this formal process will be abolished ...
“Desperate times call for desperate measures”. We are all aware that the global crisis is impacting employers worldwide. Companies have been forced to close production lines, non-core activities have been transferred to outsourced service providers and numerous workplaces have been forced to close all together. It has become a struggle to merely hold onto one’s job. Such circumstances have facilitated the increase of workplace harassment (i.e. mobbing) ...
In addition to being the world’s leading international finance centre in which to set up companies, the British Virgin Islands (‘BVI’) is now regarded as one of the world’s premier trust jurisdictions. The general principles of the trust laws of the BVI are derived from those of English trust law. The principles of English common law and equity apply, as supplemented by BVI statute ...
On March 26, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) hosted a roundtable to discuss cybersecurity. The roundtable focused on how cybersecurity affects markets and how public companies and other businesses should address cybersecurity issues ...
From Sunday 6 April 2014 anyone wanting to raise an employment tribunal claim will be directed to Acas first to try early conciliation. ere are the key things to be aware of:While early conciliation will be launched on 6 April, it will only be from 6 May that the scheme becomes mandatory for most claims and the tribunals will reject an ET1 if the Claimant hasn’t contacted Acas first.Parties do not need to actively engage in conciliation ...
A New Collective Bargaining Agreement (“GCBA”) was signed last week in Montenegro. The new GCBA introduces a broader scope of existing labour rights and has also included several additional rights. Subsequently, many questions have come up and are expected to be answered through their application in the upcoming period. The GCBA comes into force on 30 March 2014 and Montenegrin employers must take care of the entire set of new employment rights and employers obligations ...
Confronted with three different standing tests applied by the Circuit courts to Lanham Act false advertising claims, the Supreme Court has answered the question of which test to apply: “None of the above.” In Lexmark International, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc., Slip op. March 25, 2014, Justice Scalia, writing for a unanimous Court, rejected each of the tests employed by the Circuits in favor of a “zone of interests” test ...
