Discover Luxembourg's space adventure and the challenges the space industry will face in the next decade. Arendt & Medernach, the leading law firm in Luxembourg, continuously supported the space and satellite industries and have developed the firm’s expertise and experience in these domains. We are now really looking forward to helping other businesses on their journeys into space ...
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated ruling that carries important implications for securities class action litigation, now making it easier for plaintiffs to pursue public offering claims in state courts. InCyan, Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, 583 U.S ...
This article provides a brief review of MSHA enforcement data and a look at MSHA’s regulatory agenda. MSHA Enforcement Data (data from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017) MSHA issued 104,412 enforcement actions to mine operators in 2017, an increase of approximately 11,793 or 11.3 percent from 2016. Of these, 58,083 (or 55.63 percent) were issued to metal/nonmetal operators while 46,329 (or 44.37 percent) were issued to coal operators ...
More than two and a half years after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it was re-evaluating its regulatory framework for homeopathic products, the FDA released its Draft Guidance on Drug Products Labeled as Homeopathic. The Draft Guidance summarizes the FDA’s current enforcement perspective on homeopathic products and provides a list of the FDA’s enforcement priorities ...
New rules will apply to disability benefit claims and appeals under certain plans that are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), effective for claims made after April 1, 2018. According to the Department of Labor (DOL), the new rules are intended to provide greater protection to claimants, and are modeled on the enhanced claims and appeals procedures that apply to health benefit claims under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ...
Congress recently enacted comprehensive tax reform (the “Act”). This memorandum highlights some of the provisions of the Act that are particularly relevant to U.S. multinational groups, with a focus on the provisions relating to income associated with intangible property, as defined for applicable U.S. federal income tax purposes. New Corporate Tax Rate The Act significantly changes the U.S ...
As the Commission for the Financial Market (the “Commission”) came into full force this January (read previous news alert here), the regulation of the Chilean financial market took a step forward in terms of institutionalism and modernization. In this context, one of the changes introduced by Law No. 21,000 (the “Law”), that created the Commission, is the self-regulation of entities in the financial market ...
A key feature of ENSafrica’s fourth annual anti-bribery and corruption (“ABC”) survey was understanding whether organisations were familiar with the new ISO 37001 anti-bribery management standard (“ABMS”). The International Organization for Standardisation released the ABMS in October 2016 ...
We have previously reported on the amendments to the Harare Protocol that came into effect on 1 January 2017. One of these changes was that a mandatory request for search and examination must be made to the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization’s (“ARIPO’s”) office within three-years of the ARIPO filing date, along with payment of search and examination fees ...
By its own very high standards, Real Madrid is not having the greatest of soccer seasons, although it has, at least, triumphed in a recent domain name case.The decision in the case of Real Madrid Club de Futbol v Jose Delfim Mendosa de Vasconelos was handed down by panelist Eduardo Machado on 24 January 2018. The issue in the case was straightforward: an individual in Brazil registered the domain name www.realmadrid.com.br ...
The issue of offensive trade marks rumbles on.In 2017, the landmark US decision in Matal v Tam came after the founder of an Asian-American rock group sought trade mark registration for the band’s name, The Slants. The US Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) refused the application on the basis that the trade mark was offensive ...
On January 8, 2018, the California Court of Appeal for Division 4 of the First Appellate District issued a decision in Alameda County Deputy Sheriff’s Association v. Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association (“Alameda”). The outcome in Alameda results in conflicting decisions in California appellate courts on the appropriate “vested rights” analysis where pension rights are being reduced or eliminated for existing employees ...
On February 21, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued interpretive guidance to assist public companies in preparing disclosures concerning cybersecurity risks and incidents ...
Last week, United States Attorney General Sessions announced the creation of the Department of Justice Prescription Interdiction & Litigation (PIL) Task Force to combat the prescription opioid crisis. According to the Department of Justice (Justice), the PIL Task Force will rely on “all available criminal and civil enforcement tools” to hold those at “at every level of the [opioid] distribution system” accountable for unlawful conduct ...
Best-known for its stunning natural beauty—jewel-colored waters, soft sandy beaches, and lush mountain ridges—the British Virgin Islands also excels among her peers in the international financial services industry. Notably, the Territory is relentless in its pursuit of refining and advancing its financial services legal structures and complying with worldwide regulatory regimes ...
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly narrowed the scope of the Dodd-Frank Act's anti-retaliation measures. The decision resolved a split in authority by excluding from Dodd-Frank's whistleblower protections those persons reporting suspected violations only within their companies. In reversing the Ninth Circuit, the Court held that "Dodd-Frank's anti-retaliation provision does not extend to an individual who has not reported a violation of the securities laws to the SEC ...
Earlier this year the enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (eNLC) was implemented in all 29 participating states including Colorado, West Virginia and Kentucky. Illinois[1] and Michigan[2] are among the states with current legislation pending to adopt the eNLC, while Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California and a handful of other states do not yet have pending legislation ...
The State Medical Board of Ohio (Medical Board) recently released proposed rules that will create a non-disciplinary, confidential monitoring program for licensees with mental or physical illnesses. Historically, licensees with a mental or physical illness could not only be subject to formal disciplinary action pursuant to the Medical Board’s rules, but the licensee’s mental or physical illness became public information as a result of the disciplinary process ...
UAE Federal Law 20 of 2016 (Regarding the pledge of moveables as a security for debts) (the Pledge Law) introduced a new regime for registering a pledge over moveable assets which are pledged as security for the repayment of a debt. We reported on this law in our inBrief of January 2017, New UAE Pledge Law Over Moveable Assets. The actual registration of pledges was subject to establishment of a security register pursuant to the implementing regulations issued under the Pledge Law ...
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 ...
Every now and then, a dispute comes along that adds an extraordinary amount to the law. One such dispute is the Clearvu trade mark case.We have reported on the case of Cochrane Steel Products (Pty) Ltd v M-Systems Group (Pty) Ltd on a number of occasions. This was the case in which a South African court had to consider whether or not it is unlawful for a company to bid on the trade mark of a competitor as a keyword/search term ...
In South Africa, the song Akanamali, sung by the artist Sun-El Musician and featuring Samthing Soweto, was one of the most popular songs of 2017. Towards the end of the year, South African financial services giant First National Bank (“FNB”) ran a campaign to promote its products and services. It called this campaign Akanamali and featured the hook of the song, which was about a lack of money ...
A South African judgment dealing with joint ownership of copyright in databases has recently come to light. The judgment was handed down almost a year ago, but it seems to have slipped under the radar. This judgment will, however, be of interest to those involved in IP.The case is The Philanthropic Collection (Pty) Ltd v Girls & Boys South Africa ...
It’s interesting how often trade marks and politics intersect, especially in South Africa!In the most recent example, the issue was whether a political party that had broken away from the ruling African National Congress (“ANC”) – the African Democratic Change – had infringed the rights of the ruling party. As is commonly known, the logo of the ANC features the colours black, green and gold, as well as an image of a hand grasping a spear ...
