Earlier this summer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a split decision in Inserso Corporation v. U.S. that we argued had far-reaching implications for both government contractors and the private bar, relating to timeliness and waiver issues in the bid protest context. The Federal Circuit recently issued another decision, The Boeing Company v. U.S ...
In July, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) compiled a draft law on data protection and the protection of privacy in the context of electronic communication and telemedia (the “Telecommunications and Telemedia Data Protection Act” [Telekommunikations-Telemedien-Datenschutz-Gesetz],“TTDSG”) – which has not yet been officially published ...
Businesses across the country have wondered how the new Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) will enforce the CARES Act’s loan requirements, especially with the large number of loan and forgiveness applications. Until recently, the answer was unclear. Press releases have announced Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) between SIGPR and three U.S. Attorney’s Offices to collaborate on investigating and prosecuting CARES Act violations ...
In the COVID-19 era, many employers and businesses are wrestling with unprecedented issues ...
A major economic crisis has been caused by the pandemic associated with the new SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease. In this context, Law 29/2020 was published on 31 July to establish new tax measures to support cooperatives, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The aim of these measures it to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on these businesses ...
The Algarve has been seriously affected by the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, on 29 July 2020, the Portuguese Parliament published Resolution no. 51/2020 in which it recommend the adoption of a social and economic emergency plan for the Algarve (“Plano de emergência social e económico para o Algarve”) by the Portuguese Government. The recommended measures set out in Resolution no ...
This tax newsletter summarises the recent ruling of CESTAT, Chennai in the case of Commissioner of Service Tax, Chennai vs M/ Repco Home Finance Limited on non - applicability of Service tax on loan foreclosure charges ...
Key Points New York federal district court vacates the DOL’s “health care provider” definition in the DOL’s Final Rule implementing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The court also vacates the DOL’s employer consent requirement for intermittent leave and the “unable to work” requirement for receipt of leave benefits. The national impact of the decision is currently unknown as the DOL contemplates next steps ...
In FanDuel, Inc., v. Interactive Games LLC, No. 2019-1393 (Fed. Cir. July 29, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) did not violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by rejecting the prior-art combination on which it instituted inter parties review (IPR). The relevant patent claims related to a method of gambling on a mobile device ...
Since 1995, the Federal Court of Canada has refused to hear questions relating solely to patent ownership. In Lawther v. 424470 BC . Ltd ...
Summertime is holiday time. Although the worldwide travel warning issued by the Federal Foreign Office for some European countries was lifted on 15 June 2020, currently (as of 17 July 2020, 5:30 p.m.) 130 countries are still classified as risk areas. These include Turkey and the USA, which are popular destinations for German holidaymakers ...
Since the launch of the Main Street Lending Program, the Federal Reserve (through the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, which is implementing the program) issued updates on July 15, 2020 and July 31, 2020 to the Frequently Asked Questions document (“FAQ”), originally published on April 30, 2020, for the three loan facilities available to for profit businesses ...
In order to tackle the effects of the Corona crisis, it is planned at EU level to temporarily facilitate the raising of equity capital for companies. This will enable certain issuers to publish a shortened prospectus with only 30 pages instead of a full prospectus to issue shares. Through this, issuers will have the option to issue shares at short notice, without bureaucracy and inexpensively, thereby improving the debt-to-equity ratio in their balance sheets ...
In addition to its devastating effects on the global population, the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered operations in both the public and private sectors. Before elected officials could consider pandemic-related legislation aimed at assisting their constituents, state legislatures faced the difficult task of carrying out their legislative functions while ensuring the health and safety of members, staff, and the public ...
In response to a lawsuit filed by the State of New York, a judge in the Southern District of New York considered and invalidated parts of the Department of Labor's (“DOL”) Final Rule implementing the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (“FFCRA”). The ruling, while currently only applying to employers in the Southern District of New York (i.e., New York City), could be instructive on how other courts consider the same provisions ...
Effective February 19, 2020, Congress enacted new bankruptcy legislation granting debtors the option to elect a new subchapter V of chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code (Subchapter V). This was made possible by the bipartisan legislation known as the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA). 1 Small Business Reorganization Act (SBRA) of 2019, Pub. L. No. 11654, 133 Stat. 1079. Unless otherwise stated, all statutory references are to the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C ...
Four mainland financial and monetary authorities, including the People’s Bank of China, proposed measures from five perspectives to support construction of the Greater Bay Area (“GBA”) in the Opinions on Financial Support for the Construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the “Opinions”). The measures mentioned in the Opinions are summarised below with a focus on the banking sector ...
In early April, the United States approved the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) authorizing $349 billion in a small business lending program called the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). For franchising, this relief package seemed like a no-lose program ...
By virtue of the Rules of the High Court (Amendment) Rules 2020 and Rules of the District Court (Amendment) Rules 2020, the Arrangement for Mutual Service of Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Cases between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region (Arrangement) came into force on 1 August 2020. Under the Arrangement the Hong Kong and Macao courts may entrust each other with the service of judicial documents ...
When the 2019-2020 legislative session began, no one could have predicted what challenges Pennsylvania and the General Assembly would encounter with the outbreak of COVID-19. The rules changed to permit remote voting, and the plan for the session shifted to a focus on the response to COVID-19. The 12-month budget was replaced with a five-month budget to allow additional time to assess the financial damage ...
On July 22, 2020, the National Assembly approved, after a third debate, Draft Law No. 83 (the “Draft Law”), which regulates limited liability entrepreneurship companies (the “LLECs”) in Panama, and is now awaiting the signature (or veto) of the President of the Republic ...
Panama, 24 July 2020. By means of Rule JD-01-2020, published in the Official Gazette No. 29076 of 24 July 2020, the Superintendence of Non-Financial Regulated Persons (SNFR) has established a set of rules and obligations imposed to attorneys and accountants whenever they incur in any of the regulated activities under Law 23 of 2015, which relates to prevention of money laundering, financing of arms of mass destruction and financing of terrorism ...
This is a briefing on the issuances as of August 3, 2020 on the following matters in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic: A. Metro Manila will be under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) again from August 4 to 18B. Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) Further Extends until August 10, 2020 the Deadline for Filings and Payments Due for the Period of July 20 to August 7, 2020A ...
