Under 35 U.S.C. § 101, patent claims may be challenged if they are found to be directed to patent ineligible subject matter, such as laws of nature, natural phenomena, products of nature or abstract ideas. On September 9, 2024, in Contour IP Holding LLC v. GoPro, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit provided additional clarity with respect to the application of § 101 ...
While in power, the Nazis ruthlessly engineered the theft of hundreds of thousands of artworks and other cultural property from their victims.[1] During and after World War II, a significant number of these pieces made their way to museums, galleries and private collections in the U.S. This led to civil litigation in U.S. courts when the Nazis' victims and their heirs sought the restitution of these artworks ...
PROOF OF INCAPACITY: ANALYSIS OF CIUSSS DE L?OUEST-DE-L?LE-DE-MONTREAL (ST. MARY?S HOSPITAL CENTER) v. RC 1 Summary The authors comment on this decision rendered on September 20, 2024, in which the Court of Appeal ruled on the capacity to consent to care in the presence of a psychiatric disorder ...
A recent High Court decision has important implications for commercial real estate owners considering taking enforcement action against defaulting tenants, particularly during unprecedented situations or in connection with newly enacted legislation ...
The rules on the duration and termination of insurance contracts governed by Belgian law have often been found overly formalistic and complex, especially by consumers. Save for a few exceptions, the duration of non-life insurance contracts can, in principle, not exceed one year. Instead, such contracts are tacitly renewed for successive one-year periods, subject to a notice for termination or objection to the tacit renewal being made by one of the parties ...
Administration of Bermuda's Corporate Income Tax In August 2024, Bermuda’s Ministry of Finance published a public consultation paper setting out certain proposed compliance obligations for Bermuda corporate taxpayers including certain anticipated procedural requirements with respect to registration, tax return filings, and payment of taxes ...
Establishment of Bermuda’s Corporate Income Tax Agency Following the enactment of Bermuda’s Corporate Income Tax Act (the “CIT Act”) in December 2023, in July 2024, the Government of Bermuda passed the Corporate Income Tax Agency Act (the “Agency Act”) which, among other things, (i) establishes the Bermuda Corporate Income Tax Agency (the “Agency”); (ii) sets out the functions and powers of the Agency with respect to administration of the CIT Ac
Licensing under the POI Law “Controlled investment business” Carrying on controlled investment business involves three elements: engaging in a “restricted activity”; which is in connection with a “controlled investment”; and which is done by way of business ...
On 21 September 2024, the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Belgian Competition authority (“BCA”) publicly announced that in the BCA’s investigations into agreements concerning subsidies granted for the delivery of newspapers and magazines in Belgium the BCA will for the first time also be prosecuting physical persons ...
In this issue, we present an overview of arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism. This edition also includes some key takeaways from a recent debate in Stockholm on the relevance of Section 36 of the Contracts Act in commercial disputes. Additionally, we provide an update on the proceedings before the Court of Appeal concerning the temporary injunction granted by the Oslo District Court in the Norwegian climate case ...
The UK Government has now enacted secondary legislation to reflect the new “go live” date of the Procurement Act 2023 (the “Act”) on 24 February 2025. On 16 September 2024, the Procurement Act 2023 (Commencement No 3 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/959) (“Amendment Regulations”) were made ...
Carey Olsen in Guernsey advises Phoenix Equity Partners on securing £600 million in new funds Phoenix's latest Flagship Fund will enable the firm to continue investing in high-growth, lower mid-market businesses across select sectors, while the launch of its Growth Partnership Fund will allow the firm to continue and extend its partnership with high-performing portfolio companies Nineteen Group ("Nineteen") and Envisage Dental ("Envisage") ...
Directors' duties on the insolvency of a BVI company At all times, directors of a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (the “BVI”) need to be aware of their role and responsibilities as director, in particular where the company is insolvent or of doubtful solvency ...
SyCipLaw Senior Partner and Head of Litigation Department Ricardo P.G. Ongkiko, Partners John Christian Joy A. Regalado, and Ma. Patricia B. Paz-Jacoba have authored the Philippine chapter in the newly released Chambers International Arbitration 2024 Global Practice Guide (GPG) ...
ALRUD has received information from various sources indicating that this increase is under consideration. Reports suggest that the exit tax could rise to as much as ****40% of the valuation**** of the relevant asset. Despite conflicting information circulating in public sources, our contacts within the authorities have stated that ****no official decisions have been made**** regarding this matter ...
On 6 September 2024, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) publicly released feedback regarding an application submitted by Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. (Mizuho Group) for the establishment of Mizuho Securities (China) Co., Ltd. (“瑞穗证券（中国）有限公司”). If approved, Mizuho Group will become the fifth foreign financial group to establish a wholly foreign-owned (WFOE) securities company in China, joining the ranks of J.P ...
Quebec has set ambitious energy transition and industrial decarbonization targets. The shift to greener practices has to be taken in a context where our energy consumption could rapidly grow under the combined effect of a number of factors, such as the reindustrialization of our economy, population growth, transport electrification and the potential for artificial intelligence to consume vast amounts of energy ...
Carey Olsen advises Inflexion on closing of latest fund at £975 million The Fund was raised primarily through increased commitments from existing investors in less than five months, who on average doubled their investments from the previous fund, Enterprise Fund V. The Fund's investor base includes a diverse group of U.S. pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds ...
Chambers and Partners recently published its Enforcement of Judgments Global Practice Guide 2024. The Philippine chapter was authored by SyCipLaw partners Ramon G. Songco, Anthony W. Dee, Ricardo Ma. P.G. Ongkiko, head of the Firm's Litigation department, and Russel L. Rodriguez ...
Modern data protection rules are being introduced to tax-efficient jurisdictions like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. It's increasingly vital to understand how to handle data in some less familiar territories for data protection. Advisers are familiar with the data protection laws which apply in the jurisdictions where many commercial businesses operate like the UK Data Protection Act, the UK/EU GDPR and the California Privacy Protection Act ...
Whilst talk of Rail Refrom is excellent news for a Sector that has been crying out for it, how much will it really impact the supply chain and what processes and protections are already in place to help the flow of contractual payments? As the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill awaits its second reading in the House of Lords on 7th October it is clear that there is a real focus on Rail from the Government ...
Force majeure remains a hot topic when it comes to contracts. Following the pandemic, Suez Canal blockage and international sanctions, parties to contracts have been looking at how to possibly recover their losses or minimise the effects of delays. One question that had arisen was whether contracting parties could be forced to find a way around the issues by being commercially minded, particularly where they had an obligation to use reasonable endeavours to overcome the force majeure event ...
Over the last year, we have monitored a lawsuit in Georgia that alleged a hedge fund (“Fearless Fund”) violated 42 U.S.C. § 1981—the federal prohibition on racial discrimination in contracting—by operating a grant contest that awarded $20,000 grants to select small business owners, all of whom, by the contest’s express rules, had to be Black women. That case, American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Fearless Fund Management, LLC, settled yesterday ...
On September 9, 2024, the SEC announced it had settled Administrative Proceedings with nine investment advisers for violating the Marketing Rule. The violations involved distributing advertisements that included untrue or unsubstantiated statements of material fact or testimonials, endorsements or third-party ratings that lacked required disclosures. The following is a summary of the settled Administrative Proceedings ...
