False labeling of products, fake or inferior materials and components used to make products, and the misappropriated use of another’s trademark are examples of how counterfeit goods and the theft of intellectual property are hurting consumers and companies. The world markets and global supply distribution chains provide opportunities for companies to grow and prosper. Sales through the Internet allow for products to be sold and sent to almost anywhere in the world ...
The Serbian Government has taken first steps of implementing a new court system with the passing of a new Law on Seats, Jurisdictions of Courts and Public Prosecution Offices (Official Gazette RS no. 101/2013), and amendments to the Law on Organisation of Courts (Official Gazette RS no. 116/2008, 104/2009, 101/2010, 31/2011, 78/2011 101/2011, 101/2013), which came into force on 1 January 2014 ...
Most marketers and retailers know that the consumer protection laws require that their advertising claims be substantiated, truthful and not misleading. But the new year is a good time to take stock of advertising campaigns, practices and procedures to make sure they pass muster under the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) latest guidance. The FTC’s recent enforcement actions provide a starting point ...
The dispute resolution terms of engineering contracts can cause problems. An example is the recent case of Tubular Holdings (Pty) Ltd v DBT Technologies (Pty) Ltd, an unreported decision of South Gautend High Court. DBT Technologies - a subcontractor to Eskom in the Kusile Project 0 further contracted to Tubular Holdings in a deal worth some R 1.3 billion. Contract FIDIC's clause 20 governs the dispute resolution procedure. Clause 20 ...
On January 13, 2014, the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA" or "the Agency") announced the availability of a much-anticipated draft guidance on its intended regulation of product promotion conducted via social media, titled Fulfilling Regulatory Requirements for Postmarketing Submissions of Interactive Promotional Media for Prescription Human and Animal Drugs and Biologics ...
Effective January 1, 2014, the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) replaced its Amicable Dispute Resolution rules with new Mediation Rules. The new ICC Mediation Rules (the “Rules”) set clear parameters for mediating disputes, while also providing for additional flexible procedures that allow the parties to resolve their disputes privately and confidentially ...
A New York appellate court affirmed in Syracuse Univ. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., CA 13-01056, (N.Y. Sup. Ct. App. Div. Dec. 27, 2013), that an insurer must pay the costs incurred by its policyholder to comply with subpoenas issued to the policyholder as part of a criminal investigation, even where formal charges are not filed ...
In Ass’n For Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., the Supreme Court held that "a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated, but that cDNA is patent eligible because it is not naturally occurring." 133 S. Ct. 1207 (2013). Further, fragments that are "indistinguishable from natural DNA" are not statutory subject matter. Id., 2119 ...
On January 2, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its first civil enforcement action of 2014 — a consummated merger challenge and settlement resulting from Heraeus Electro-Nite’s (Heraeus’s) $42 million acquisition of Midwest Instrument Company Inc. (Minco). The enforcement action is the latest DOJ challenge to a merger not required to be reported to the US antitrust agencies under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ...
For more than twenty years, the federal government has attempted to limit the number of unsolicited phone calls consumers receive through the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (“TCPA”), which is perhaps best known for governing the famous “Do Not Call” list. Businesses, including banks and financial institutions, must understand the statute and stay abreast of its changes because the penalties for violating the TCPA are steep ...
On 22 November 2011, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rendered two very important rulings in the Medeva (C-322/10) and Georgetown (C-422/10) cases. Those rulings however raised new issues that national patent courts quickly referred back to the Court. Yesterday, the CJEU decided on three Medeva follow-up cases. The new rulings brought more clarity about the conditions under which an SPC may be granted ...
A Pennsylvania appellate court in Indalex, Inc. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., No. 612 WDA 2012 (Dec. 3, 2013), found that a general liability insurer must defend a window and door manufacturer against claims alleging that defects in the manufacturer’s windows and doors caused damage to property and bodily injuries ...
Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") recently announced its updated voting policies for the 2014 proxy season. The policies will become effective for shareholder meetings held on or after February 1, 2014. We have summarized below four policy updates relating to corporate governance matters that may be of particular interest to US corporations. Simplified Pay-for-Performance Executive Evaluation ISS revised its policy relating to executive pay-for-performance evaluations ...
More than three years after first announcing that it was considering issuing regulations applying the Americans with Disabilities Act to websites, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) appears on the verge of announcing its proposed rules for website accessibility. While the DOJ originally stated that it anticipated issuing its Title II website accessibility rules for websites operated by state and local governments by November 2013, it now expects to issue these rules by the end of the year ...
Unlike the position in England, in Scotland there is virtually no statutory protection for a commercial tenant at the expiry of their lease.Provided sufficient notice has been given by their landlord, the lease will come to an end on the expiry date and, unless a deal can be struck with the landlord, the tenant is required to leave the property on or prior to that date ...
In recognition of the increasing popularity in the market of asset-backed contribution arrangements (ABCs), the Pensions Regulator has issued detailed guidance for trustees considering using such a structure to fund their pension scheme. ABCs, in general terms, allow an employer operating a defined benefit pension scheme to use a non-cash asset to provide a regular income stream to the scheme without an outright disposal of the asset to the scheme ...
In 2010, the New York State Bar Association’s (NYSBA) Task Force on New York Law in International Matters (Task Force) recommended the creation of a permanent center for international dispute resolution in New York.1 And on June 17, 2013, the New York International Arbitration Center (NYIAC), a non-profit providing world-class arbitration facilities and educational programs about international arbitration, opened its doors ...
Condominium and villa investors will have a more affordable, flexible and attractive opportunity to invest in the Turks and Caicos Islands’ (TCI) real estate following the enactment of the Fractional Ownership Ordinance. The Ordinance has not yet come into force, but shall do so once a notice has been published in the gazette, to this effect ...
FUNGAL CONTAMINATION AND COMMERCIAL LEASES Fungal contamination: a complex problem The detection of a fungal contamination problem in a building can be a complex operation. For example, recurring water infiltration due to leaks in a building’s outer envelope can create an environment that is conducive to the growth of mould in spaces not visible to the occupant, such as behind walls, in ventilation conduits, and in the plenums of the ventilation system ...
This year the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued an opinion that effectively nullifies many construction warranties. In Christie v. Hartley Construction, Inc., et al., No. COA12-1385, the Court limited warranties for construction defects to six years, even when the contractor or product manufacturer expressly provides a longer one. Plaintiffs George and Deborah Christie contracted for the construction of a custom home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 2004 ...
The "pay when paid" issue has troubled the construction industry for many years. It refers to payment terms contained in a sub-contract, which typically provide that the main contractor shall pay the sub-contractor a certain period of time after the main contractor has received payment from the employer. The controversy is whether the phrase should be construed as creating a condition precedent to the main contractor's liability to the sub-contractor ...
