David Beckham is in the news again. This time it’s all about a new US football venture. A venture that has run into a trade mark problem. Beckham is heavily involved in the formation of a new Major League Soccer (“MLS”) professional football team that will be based in Miami, Florida. The team’s first home game is scheduled to take place very soon, 14 March 2020 ...
An article entitled “Cyprus Gets Its Halloumi Back” would leave most people scratching their heads. But a reader of Trademark Lawyer Magazine would immediately appreciate that it deals with the increasingly important issue of geographical indications and designations of origin. The issue described in the article is almost comical. Halloumi is, of course, a type of cheese, one that is closely associated with the island of Cyprus ...
When dealing with a workplace issue, an employer should be careful to identify the problem in question correctly so that the appropriate steps are taken. Failing to do so could lead to unnecessary or incorrect processes being followed, which could expose the employer to claims of unlawful or unfair conduct ...
Amazon is apparently the world’s most valuable brand, and is one that plays an increasingly important role in our lives. Although most of us know it as an online retailer, a recent BBC documentary describes it as being every bit as much a data-company, one that knows more about us than we know ourselves. We’ve reported on how Amazon is under considerable pressure to deal with the fact that counterfeit goods can be and are sold on its online platform ...
Greta Thunberg has the ability to divide opinion like few other celebrities, with a surprising number of people finding her strangely threatening. Perhaps it’s simply because Greta is always in the news, for instance, managing to winTime Magazine’s2019 Person of the Year award at the age of 17. She has been in the news again, this time in the context of trade marks ...
Construction is a highly competitive industry and the days when clients are willing to accept a trade-off among low price, fast project turnaround and high-quality workmanship are gone. The expectation to design and build projects within constrained budget and schedule limitations while providing uncompromised workmanship amplifies the importance of effective contractor quality control programs ...
Introduction The World Health Organization named “vaccine hesitancy” as one of the top global health threats in 2019. In the United States, widespread utilization of non-medical exemptions to mandatory vaccination laws has led to statistically significant outbreaks of measles and other vaccine-preventable illnesses, and many headlines forecast that if vaccination exemptions continue the trajectory they are on, this country may well face a public health emergency ...
On February 26, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma, 589 U.S. ___ (2020) (Sulyma) that an ERISA1 plaintiff’s admitted receipt of disclosures about his retirement plan investments was insufficient to prove he had “actual knowledge” of the information therein — the effect of which would have been to trigger a shorter three-year statute of limitations period that would have barred his lawsuit altogether ...
Introduction The recent spread of the coronavirus around the world is justifying significant concern among senior living operators and raising questions about how to prepare for and respond to the possibility that the disease will affect residents, staff, and visitors. This concern is exacerbated by the fact that seniors tend to be more vulnerable to such communicable diseases and live in close quarters with others at the community, sharing meals and participating in group activities ...
When a debtor, natural or legal person, is constituted in serious circumstances of insolvency in the face of a plurality of creditors, the legislator has foreseen as a mechanism to solve said problem three alternatives of action, depending on the qualities of the insolvent person: the insolvency creditors, bankruptcy and suspension of payments ...
At present, M&A transactions are frequently at least postponed because of uncertainties about the development of the target, the potentially unpredictable situation of the prospective buyer and its financing, and partly also because of practical problems to finalize the transaction. CARRYING OUT THE M&A PROCESS The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are most evident in actually carrying out an M&A transaction ...
The Ministry of Corporate affairs has recently notified Sections 230(11) and 230 (12) of the Companies Act, 2013 (“Companies Act”) and certain amendments to the Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamation) Rules, 2020 (“M&A Rules”)[1] (together, the “Amendments”) ...
In response to the impact of COVID-19 and the partial withdrawal of EBA benefits – see our update here – the Cambodian government have issued a number of regulations which are intended to provide some relief to affected businesses in Cambodia. We outline these updates below: Letter 1313 MEF – dated 25 February 2020 Notification no ...
BVI government welcomes announcement. Blacklist expands to include 12 jurisdictions.On 18 February 2020, EU Finance Ministers updated the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, upgrading the British Virgin Islands to whitelist status, which designates the country as a fully co-operative tax jurisdiction in line with all of the tax good-governance standards ...
On February 13, 2020, in Frlekin v. Apple, Inc., No. S243805 (Cal. 2/13/2020), the California Supreme Court determined that Apple employees must be paid for time spent waiting for and undergoing exit bag searches. Although Apple does not require its employees to bring bags to work, the Court concluded that the search time amounts to time under which the employees are under Apple's "control," as that term is defined in the California Wage Orders ...
Several recent reports claim that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic in China is beginning to slow down and generally under control, prompting businesses in China to resume operations. In order to minimise further spreading of the virus as employees return to work, the PRC government has issued different local rules and guidelines to ensure enterprises are adequately prepared ...
Flu season is in full swing. with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) confirming over 155,000 positive U.S. cases of influenza since Sept. 29, 2019. Simultaneously, the coronavirus COVID-19 has spread rapidly across China, with at least 70,000 confirmed cases, including 15 confirmed cases in the United States. In response, employers need to be prepared to assist employees in staying safe and complying with potential quarantines. Beginning Feb ...
SVW has, across its offices, been giving guidance to clients both under English and Norwegian law as to the Coronavirus impact on shipping contracts, including on force majeure and similar exceptions clauses, and contract frustration. Read our recent publication, touching upon these issues. The Covid19 Virus Only two months have passed since the novel coronavirus was detected in Wuhan, China ...
On 13 February 2020, the South African President announced the promulgation of certain significant sections of the Competition Amendment Act, 2018, including a change to the confidentiality regime, the new buyer power provision and the new price discrimination provision. The Minister of Trade and Industry has also published new regulations on buyer power and price discrimination ...
Enterprises in most regions of China resumed work and production on February 10, 2020 ...
On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the outbreak of novel coronavirus or COVID-19 constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by a new coronavirus which first originated in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, the death toll from which has reportedly surpassed 1,000 on mainland China, while confirmed infections have passed 40,000 globally ...
South African readers will know that Meghan Markle was a recent visitor to our shores. Meghan’s husband Prince Harry came too, but people weren’t too interested in him. As far as I am aware, Meghan had no problems with the South African press. She also had no copyright issues in South Africa. So, a far cry from what she is experiencing right now in the UK, her adopted home. Meghan is now involved in legal proceedings with the Mail on Sunday, a major British newspaper ...
Market inquiries have become a prominent feature of the South African competition law landscape. Historically, the Competition Act, 1998 did not afford the Competition Commission (the“Commission”) the power to take binding remedial action. The Commission was limited to producing reports containing non-binding “recommendations” or lobbying for changes to the way business is done following a market inquiry ...
Thailand is at a powerful crossroads in its economic development. After several decades of consistent growth, it is now preparing to finally break through and become a high-income nation. To do this, it is focusing on smart industry. A high-income Thailand is one driven by technological progress, so the government has begun pouring money into robotics and automation ...
