We are facing the growing and exponential spread of COVID-19 and a state of emergency was recently declared in Portugal. As a result, it is important to assess what impact this situation may have on the ability of businesses to meet the obligations they have assumed under the contracts they have made. The current situation is generating tensions in contractual relationships between companies ...
Current status: March 31, 2020 Increasingly far-reaching restrictions with respect to the COVID-19 virus also bring to light the issue of timely drafting, auditing, adoption, and publication of annual and consolidated financial statements, in particular for listed companies. This against the background that capital market-oriented companies, i.e ...
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) offers relief to businesses affected by COVID-19 through various programs, including forgivable loans and federal income tax credits. However, the CARES Act prevents businesses from claiming certain benefits that are considered duplicative ...
In order to cope with the public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of North Macedonia has instituted a number of administrative measures aimed at preventing the spread of this virus, but also at dealing with the economic consequences of the crisis ...
The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted the manufacturing, transportation and supple chains underpinning countless aspects of trade and commerce on a global basis. Additionally, the shelter-in-place orders have caused nonessential businesses to shut down, resulting in many of them being unable to meet their contractual obligation. Force Majeure Whether coronavirus can be considered a force majeure depends on the wording of the provision ...
In Pakdel v. City and County of San Francisco, filed on March 17, 2020, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal voted 2-1 to affirm the dismissal of a property owner’s takings challenge against San Francisco’s “Expedited Conversion Program ...
Impact of Supreme Court's order of March 23, 2020 A three-judge bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court (“the Court”) in the matter of Suo Moto Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3 / 2020 titled as,In Re: Cognizance for Extension of Limitationinitiated suo - moto proceedings on 23.03 ...
Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group, Kochhar & Co. Delhi Health and safety are everyone’s priority today as COVID-19’s unprecedented impact continues to grow each day. Needless to say, the outbreak of Covid-19 has left its impact on litigation and arbitration in various ways, ranging from an increased use of remote hearings to general court closures, depending on the countries and institutions concerned ...
What is known to exist but is not visible is surrounded by mystery. It excites the imagination and people spin yarns about it. Though that is not true when it comes to novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), the outbreak of which has been globally reported. COVID-19 has caused worldwide unprecedented disruptions to business operations; and the commercial turmoil continues ...
A recent report published by the White House Council of Economic Advisers (“CEA”) on drug pricing in the United States of America has put the cost of medicine and the access thereto by the poor, firmly back in the spotlight, and on a global scale. In the CEA report, President Donald Trump’s administration argues that the USA pays higher prices for pharmaceuticals because other developed countries have systems in place to actively force down drug pricing ...
A fierce fight for the leadership of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (”WIPO”) reflects an ever-growing recognition of the importance of IP. The US has seemingly secured a major victory in its quest to prevent a Chinese official from becoming the director general of WIPO. It has achieved this by backing a candidate from Singapore, Daren Tang, the head of the Singapore Intellectual Property Office ...
Disputes arising from an employer’s failure to promote an employee have become an established feature in South African workplaces, especially in the public sector. They have also been the subject of a large number of arbitrations by virtue of the provisions of section 186 (2)(a) of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“LRA”). This section provides that the definition of an unfair labour practice includes unfair conduct by an employer relating to the promotion of an employee ...
South Africa is in lockdown in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, and although we aren’t able to meet face-to-face over this period, we know how important it is to stay in touch, and we will continue to keep you up-to-date on recent tax developments. In this regard, it feels like a lifetime ago that the South African Minister of Finance delivered his 2020 Budget Speech on 26 February 2020 ...
South Africa is a party to a number of international environmental agreements, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Control (“UNFCCC”), 1992, the Kyoto Protocol, 1997 and the Paris Agreement. In terms of the Paris Agreement, governments have made a commitment to ensure that global average temperatures remain below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. For South Africa, a country that relies heavily on fossil fuels to generate energy, this is a mammoth task ...
A recent posting by United Kingdom IP firm Beck Greener discusses a very interesting European Union case involving sound marks. If you have any interest in trade marks, you will know that trade marks can take many forms. Although most trade marks are words or logos, trade marks can be all sorts of things… straplines (slogans), product shapes, store layouts colours, sounds, smells or tastes. But many of these more exotic types of trade marks can be difficult to protect ...
Over the past few years, more and more companies have started publishing news content written by artificial intelligence (“AI”) algorithms. This includes Chinese technology giant, Tencent, whose rapid growth has shaped the trajectory of Naspers, the South African company that currently still owns a bit more than 30% of Tencent. Tencent publishes content produced by automated software known as Dreamwriter ...
Why aren’t young influencers taking IP seriously? If you’re over 19 (and you are because you’re reading an article about intellectual property) there’s a good chance that to you “TikTok” is the sound that a clock makes, even though in this case it’s been written by someone who can’t spell. But for younger people, the term has a different meaning altogether ...
On 26 March 2020, directions were issued by the Minister of Home Affairs pursuant to the regulations published in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 to provide temporary measures in respect of entry into or exit out of South Africa in order to prevent and combat the spread of the coronavirus (COVID‑19) ...
On 15 March 2020, the South African President declared a national state of disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002. A number of measures have since been implemented by the government to counteract the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19), and several regulations, directives and guidelines have consequently been published ...
A state of emergency, in order to combat the Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, has been imposed in Mozambique, with effect from 1 April 2020. This follows the Presidential Decree issued by President Filipe Nyusi on 30 March 2020 and ratified by the Mozambican Parliament. This unprecedented state of emergency is intended to last until 30 April 2020 ...
Following the issuing of what has colloquially been called the “Lockdown Regulations” to reduce the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in South Africa, there has been a hasty scramble for essential services to comply with the provisions of the Regulations and to register on the Essential Services Portal ...
The COVID-19 virus has a worldwide impact on travel activities, affecting foreigners such as employees of companies intending to travel to Germany as well as those who are already in Germany but are now effectively unable to leave. 1. RESTRICTIONS ON ENTRY AND VISA ISSUANCE The countries of the Schengen area have decided to impose entry restrictions on all non-essential travel from third countries ...
On April 2, 2020, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an interim final rule, providing additional guidance on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Click here to read the full text of the Interim Final Rule. Here are some of the highlights of new and/or clarified information from the previous guidance issued by Treasury and SBA and the text of the CARES Act: Eligibility Only U.S ...
Among its other consequences, the ongoing global outbreak of Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in an economic crisis. In this legal update we present insolvency law issues which may arise during the crisis and we also propose practical solutions for dealing with challenges that companies may face. 1 ...
