Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, resolving an issue on which several Courts of Appeals and various federal agencies and administrations had disagreed. At issue in Epic Systems (and two companion cases presenting the same issue: Ernst & Young LLP. v. Morris and National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc ...
The approval of the long awaited Federal Law on Arbitration by the Federal National Council was announced earlier this year ...
Fox News v. TVEyes Shows Fair-Use Defense Remains Risky Business “It seems to me that if there were any logic to our language, trust would be a four letter word ...
In a landmark ruling earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court overturned the ruling of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the constitutionality of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), the federal statute that effectively prohibits all sports betting in the United States by restricting states (other than a few grandfathered states, including Nevada) from authorizing sports betting ...
Abu Dhabi has introduced new rules governing the functioning of the Emirate’s judiciary. The new rules appear in Abu Dhabi Law 13 of 2018, which amends Abu Dhabi Law 23 of 2006 on the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department. The new provisions largely address internal matters related to the functioning of the courts, such as the composition of panels of the courts and the accountability of judges. But two features could be of more general interest ...
Artificial intelligence is a burning topic in many sectors today and the legal industry is no exception. Recently, at the World Services Group’s annual employment law1 conference held in February, AI was heavily debated along with its’ impact not only on the legal profession, lawyers, clients, the way business is done, but also our traditional understanding of concepts such as “law” or “justice” ...
View the PDF version of the April 2018 IP Beacon. Are Works Generated by AI Subject to IP Protection? When Philip Dick wrote the 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?," the inspiration for the 1982 film "Blade Runner," artificial intelligence was more fiction than science. Fifty years later, theHarvard Business Reviewpredicts that AI will be the single biggest technological development of our era, as transformative as the steam engine or electricity ...
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has published the Creative Industries Sector Deal aimed at making the UK the best place in the world for businesses in the creative industries. This is the latest sector deal to flow from the government's Industrial Strategy White Paper after sector deals for life sciences and the automotive industry were announced in late 2017/early 2018, respectively ...
Can “consent” to use a registered trade mark be considered an abandonment by the owner of the exclusive rights to that registered trade mark in perpetuity? Section 40(1)(dd) of theTrade Mark Act 1976 (“Act”) provides that it is not a trade mark infringement if it is “the use by a person of a trade mark in relation to goods or services to which the registered proprietor or registered userhas at any time expressly or impliedly consented to” [Emph
The Federal Court in Johor Coastal Development Sdn Bhd v Constrajaya Sdn Bhd[1] (“Johor Coastal”) was invited to consider if the legal principles enunciated and the application of section 75 of the Contracts Act 1950 (“CA”) in Selva Kumar a/l Murugiah v Thiagarajah a/l Retnasamy[2] (“Selva Kumar”) remains good law ...
By one account, “the cost of global ransomware attacks will exceed $11.5 billion annually by 2019, up from $5 billion last year and $325 million in 2015” – a 35X increase in just four years.1Relative to other cyber crime, ransomware is an equal opportunity enterprise—striking individuals as well as businesses of all kinds ...
By one account, “the cost of global ransomware attacks will exceed $11.5 billion annually by 2019, up from $5 billion last year and $325 million in 2015” – a 35X increase in just four years.1Relative to other cyber crime, ransomware is an equal opportunity enterprise—striking individuals as well as businesses of all kinds ...
The Court of Québec released an interesting judgment recently in a case involving civil liability and personal injury.1 Plaintiff, Ms. Bourgault, went to Village Vacances Valcartier (“VVV”) to take part in a snow rafting activity. During a descent, she was twice thrown toward the rear of the inflatable boat. The violent impacts caused her to break a vertebra. She sued VVV for damages arising out of the incident ...
Although many restaurants are not in states that require food allergens to be declared on menus, the declaration (or labeling) and handling of food allergens is a growing concern for restaurants, due to the significant risks of liability and poor public relations, if handled incorrectly ...
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) ...
Earlier this year members of Fianna Fáil (the main opposition party to the Government) introduced the Gambling Control Bill 2018 as a Private Members' Bill. The Gambling Control Bill 2018 is largely based on the General Scheme for a Gambling Control Bill which was published by the Irish Government in 2013. The General Scheme was essentially an outline of what was to be included in the Bill once drafted ...
Alvarado v. Dart Container Corporation, Case No. S232607 (Cal. Sup. Ct, March 5, 2018) On March 5, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued its long awaited overtime calculation decision in Alvarado v. Dart Container Corporation, Case No. S232607 (March 5, 2018). The specific question before the Court was "how an employee’s overtime pay rate should be calculated when the employee has earned a flat sum bonus during a single pay period ...
Insolvency that stems from the obligations assumed by a joint venture may concern any of the associates. Such proceeding, especially when it has an international dimension, requires a broader perspective on some of the requirements set forth by law with respect to the initiation and application of the proceeding. Through its effects on the debtor, creditors and on the socioeconomic environment in general, insolvency is more than a mere legal procedure ...
On 7 February 2018, a new specialist International Chamber within the Paris Court of Appeal was launched by the French Ministry of Justice together with the Paris Bar Association. The chamber is intended to deal with international commercial matters governed by French as well as foreign law, and the use of English as well as certain common law procedures will be permitted ...
1.1 What type of legal system has your jurisdiction got? Are there any rules that govern civil procedure in your jurisdiction? The Philippine legal system is primarily a civil law system, although it may be considered a mixed regime consisting of both civil andcommon law traditions. Civil procedure is governed primarily bythe 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, or Rules 1 to 71 of the Rules of Court (“ROC”), and various issuances promulgated by the Supreme Court. 1 ...
Legal entities that contract insurance to protect their own assets qualify as consumers within the meaning of the consumer code, says the brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ) "[...] the legal entity that takes out insurance seeking to protect its own assets shall be end user of insurance services, thus calling for the application in its favor of the rules provided for in the Consumer Code ...
This year has already been a busy one for seismic activity. In the first weeks of 2018 alone, there have been reports of a 7.9 magnitude quake off the shores of Kodiak, Alaska, a 6.2 magnitude temblor in Japan, and a series of tremors in California. And, few will forget the catastrophic earthquakes that struck Mexico City and the Iraq-Iran border last year ...
On January 8, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued itsen bancdecision inWi-Fi One, LLC v. Broadcom Corp., Appeal 2015-1944 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 8, 2018) (en banc) holding that Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) time-bar determinations under 35 U.S.C. § 315(b) in aninter partesreview (“IPR”) proceeding are appealable. Theen bancdecision overrules a panel’s earlier decision inAchates Reference Publishing Inc. v. Apple Inc.803 F ...
As part of a now-infamous 1972 monologue, comedian George Carlin listed the “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” colorfully repeating each throughout his routine. While many of those words remain unacceptable for the airwaves, they may now be suitable for federal trademark registration, thanks to a recent decision from the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ...
