Today, the Ninth Circuit upheld California’s new law (AB 51) barring arbitration provisions in employment contracts.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations challenged the law in federal court. The district court enjoined the law, ruling that it conflicts with the Federal Arbitration Act. A divided Ninth Circuit panel reversed. Judge Lucero, a Tenth Circuit judge sitting by designation, wrote the majority opinion (joined by Judge Fletcher). Judge Ikuta dissented ...
August 21, 2023 By: Akana K. Ma On August 14, 2023, pursuant to a Presidential executive order issued several days earlier, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposed Rulemaking) announcing a ban on investment by U.S. persons, including U.S.-registered business entities, in three advanced technology sectors in China – quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors ...
In a monumental decision, today the United States Supreme Court ruled that Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) decisions carry preclusive effect in subsequent federal district court decisions so long as the ordinary elements of issue preclusion are met. The ruling implicates that, where use is the “paramount” issue in a court case, a TTAB decision that at least peripherally contemplates marketplace use will have preclusive effect ...
On January 1, 2024, regulations implementing the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) became effective, triggering new reporting obligations for many entities conducting business within the United States ...
The U.S. Department of State has released details on a proposed pilot program testing the agency’s ability to resume domestic visa renewals for certain nonimmigrant visa categories and to study the effect the program has on reducing visa wait times worldwide. The program will begin on January 29, 2024 and end on April 1, 2024 ...
Last week the U.S. Department of Justice’s Cybersecurity Unit (“DOJ”) issued guidance to organizations concerning preparing for, responding to, and remediating cyber incidents. DOJ based its publication on lessons learned by federal prosecutors who handle cyber investigations and prosecutions, as well as feedback from private sector victims of cyber attacks and intrusions ...
On February 15, 2024, the United States Copyright Office published a notice of proposed rulemaking, proposing to create a new group registration option for published two-dimensional artwork. Currently, the Copyright Office permits group registration of up to ten unpublished two-dimensional artworks, and it also permits the registration of individual published two-dimensional artworks ...
The U.S. Copyright Office has issued a final regulation (37 CFR §202.4) permitting a single, “group” registration for “Short Online Literary Works.” To be eligible, each of the works included in the registration “must be published as part of a website or online platform, including online newspapers, social media websites, and social networking platforms ...
On March 8, 2013, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released a new version of Form I-9 with a revision date of 03/08/2013. Employers are required to use the new Form I-9 no later than May 7, 2013, for all new hires and rehires, as well as to re-verify an employee’s identity and continued employment eligibility. Employers are not required to replace prior I-9 forms that were used before May 7, 2013 ...
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation is sponsoring the Save Small Business Fund—a grantmaking initiative offering short-term relief for small employers who are struggling during the COVID-19 outbreak. The fund will provide $5,000 grants to small employers in the United States and its territories that must be applied toward business expenses ...
Like every other higher education leader, I spent most of the last 10 months reacting to the operational imperatives driven by the COVID-19 crisis. Each day presented a novel crisis, and just when we thought we’d see no more plot twists, a new one emerged. In the midst of that maelstrom and as the state’s higher education chief, I often found myself trying to find elusive time to process what these daily crises meant for our enterprise over the long term ...
A recent European case in which Adidas successfully objected to a two-stripe device trade mark for footwear is interesting for us in Africa. For starters, it’s a welcome respite from the almost endless stream of bad news that we get from up north regarding non-traditional trade marks – shape trade marks seem to be having a particularly hard time at the moment ...
Recently, the Texas Supreme Court issued two very important decisions on First Amendment law that could have a broad impact on media companies doing business in Texas. Both cases evolved from defamation claims filed by Salem Abraham, a school board member in Canadian, Texas. Read the full alert ...
There have been two recent developments regarding the False Claims Act (FCA) which will impact health care organizations that could be subject to a whistleblower lawsuit or FCA investigation. First, on May 7, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued formal guidance regarding the manner in which the DOJ would award credits to defendants that cooperate with the DOJ during an FCA investigation (the Policy) ...
Key Points SB 343 regulates use of “chasing arrows” recycling symbol; AB 1201 extends composting regulations to all products including home compostable claims. Food manufacturers face public and private enforcement risks. SB 343 – Truth in Labeling for Recyclable Materials SB 343 amends existing law that makes it unlawful to use any misleading environmental marketing claims on product packaging. Specifically, SB 343 amends Public Resources Code Section 42355 ...
Kudun and Partners represented two high-net-worth Thai individuals on their acquisition of approximately 61% shares in Nation Broadcasting Corporation Public Company Limited from Nation Group (Thailand) Public Company Limited for a total value of THB 898 million. The acquisition of the shares by the buyer will allow Nation Group (Thailand) PCL. to become debt-free ...
As the new year started, two Department of Justice memoranda began circulating that may bring a change in the way the United States focuses its efforts in the FCA arena. The first, entitled, “Factors for Evaluating Dismissal Pursuant to 31 U.S.C ...
On June 17, the Supreme Court declined to overturn the Dual Sovereign Doctrine, maintaining individuals may be prosecuted under both federal and state law for the same criminal conduct. The Court’s decision was a loss for Petitioner Terance Martez Gamble, who had been prosecuted twice for illegal possession of a firearm, first in state court and then in federal court. In 2008, Gamble pleaded guilty to felony robbery in the state of Alabama ...
Design of the Models Taiwan law provides for two models for private parties to participate in governmental infrastructure projects. One is the model under the Government Procurement Act (“GPA Model”) and the other is the Public-Private Partnerships Law (“PPP Model”). The most significant difference between the two models lies in the funding entity ...
The Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI) has recently introduced a raft of legislation to enhance its existing comprehensive anti-money laundering regime. The provisions largely follow the “Review of Financial Regulation in the Caribbean Overseas Territories and Bermuda” recently conducted for the British Government by KPMG (generally known as “the KPMG Report”) ...
Law360 (May 6, 2019, 7:15 PM EDT) -- A Turkish producer has filed a complaint with the U.S. Court of International Trade over the methodology the U.S. Department of Commerce used to calculate tariffs on its pipe imports, telling the court that Commerce went against its usual practice for determining when the pipes at issue were sold in the U.S. Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret AS on Friday told the CIT that Commerce’s decision to impose a dumping rate of 5 ...
Issues surrounding the election of Directors of Public Companies gained the attention of Canadian Securities Regulators in the last years due to concerns expressed be large institutional directors that current Canadian Rules regarding the election of Directors were not Democratic nor aligned with current practices in other countries ...
Australia's Federal Court finds in favour of Nine newspapers against Ben Roberts-Smith. The judgement is a win for investigative journalism and the public’s right to know. Defence was lead by Peter Bartlett, MinterEllison. Nine newspapers’ victory in the Ben Roberts Smith vs Nine defamation case strengthens a core principle of journalism, and key tenant of democracy, which is the public’s right to know ...
