As 2021 runs in search of what’s new, we realize that the pandemic disruption has continued through 2021. The NMLS Ombudsman Meeting was held virtually and the upcoming American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR) Annual Conference will be held in person, but with reduced capacity. These frame the search for “a” normal as licensed mortgage companies balance licensing requirements and health risks while serving their borrowers ...
Our Shoospeak HR podcast welcomes special guest Jonathan Naylor (Partner in the Shoosmiths' employment team) to discuss trade union communication strategies ...
No fault divorce is due to come into effect in England and Wales on 6 April 2022. From this date couples will be able to get divorced without one person needing to lay blame on the other. This change will also apply to civil partnership dissolution ...
Indivior UK Ltd. v. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories S.A., Appeal Nos. 2020-2073, -2142 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 24, 2021) Our Case of the Week this week focuses on the written description requirement when the patent claims a range. The Court addressed a circumstance where the application disclosed a number of values within a range, but did not disclose the range itself ...
Article by Anne Coulon, Regional Legal Adviser, DFDL Thailand Mediation is a confidential, fast, flexible and cost-effective dispute resolution (“DR”) method based on the mutual consent of the involved parties. Companies, contractors, individuals, banks, real estate owners, governmental bodies; or any combination thereof may be parties to commercial mediation. Breaches of contract, business torts etc. can all be successfully submitted to and/or resolved through mediation ...
On October 6, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 45 (AB 45) into law. AB 45 permits the manufacture and sale of a wide range of products containing regulated amounts of industrial hemp. Below is a brief overview: What is industrial hemp? “Industrial hemp” is defined as cannabis plants that have no more than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) ...
The dispute relates to MV «Cheshire» incident in 2017, where a cargo of 42,000 metric tons of fertiliser was subject to a major decomposition incident off Gran Canaria, during a voyage from Norway to Thailand. The fertiliser was completely damaged and the vessel was declared a total loss. The cargo owners held the ship owners jointly liable for the cargo damage. Bibby Transport Ltd and a number of H&M insurers held the fertiliser producer liable for the damaged vessel ...
On Nov. 17, 2021, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (the Notice) concerning its potential development of telepharmacy regulations ...
On Oct. 19, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule that would establish a new category of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. The rule came in response to President Joe Biden’s July 9 executive order, which among other things, calls for wide availability of low-cost hearing aids in order to promote economic competition ...
In order to continue addressing the impacts of COVID-19 on nursing home residents, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a memo updating guidance for nursing home visitation. You can read the full memo here. Early in the pandemic, CMS implemented visitation restrictions to mitigate the risk of visitors introducing COVID-19 to nursing homes. Now, CMS is updating its guidance and allowing visitation for residents at all times ...
On Friday, November 12, 2021, in BST Holdings, L.L.C., et. al. vs. Occupational Health and Safety Administration, et. al., Case: 21-60845, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the plaintiffs’ motion to stay implementation of OSHA’s November 5, 2021 Emergency Temporary Standard (the “ETS”) requiring employees of covered employers to undergo COVID-19 vaccination or take weekly COVID-19 tests and wear a mask ...
Apple Inc. v. Qualcomm Inc., Appeal Nos. 2020-1683, -1763, -1764, 1827 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 10, 2021) Our Case of the Week reinforces a developing body of law concerning standing to appeal from an adverse PTAB decision in an IPR. This is the second such decision arising from a global settlement between Apple and Qualcomm this year. We wrote about the first case, in April this year, here ...
In the recent case of Shanghai Shipyard Co. Ltd. V. Reignwood International Investment (Group) Company Limited [2021] EWCA Civ 1147 the Court of Appeal (COA) unanimously overturned the first instance decision and found a parent company guarantee to be a guarantee “on demand”. Despite arbitration proceedings having commenced under the underlying contract, the COA found the guarantor liable to pay $170 million under the guarantee ...
Circular Letter No. CL-2021-080, issued on 18 October 2021 by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (“BSP”), disseminates to all BSP-Supervised Financial Institutions (“BSFI”) the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s (“AMLC”) Guidelines on Digitization of Customer Records (“DIGICUR”) adopted via the AMLC Regulatory Issuance (“ARI”) A, B, and C, No. 2, Series of 2018 ...
In Lloyd v Google, the Supreme Court denied claims for mere 'loss of control' and ruled against mass class actions for data claims. Here, Philip Tansley and Matthew MacLachlan consider the court's reasoning and the broader implications for such claims. Case In its landmark judgment today, the Supreme Court unanimously held that a representative class action brought on behalf of approximately 4 ...
In Kabab-Ji SAL v Kout Food Group, the UK Supreme Court recently considered the question of which system of law the English courts must apply to decide whether there is an enforceable arbitration agreement. This case illustrates the different approaches taken in determining questions of applicable law and the consequences this can have for both annulment and enforcement proceedings in different countries ...
On Nov. 8, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) updated and renamed its Provider Self-Disclosure Protocol. Now called the Health Care Fraud Self-Disclosure Protocol (SDP), the OIG’s revisions are the first changes to the SDP since 2013. We report on the key elements of these changes below ...
Two new categories of tax-exempt bonds were created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) (the Act) adopted by the House on Nov. 6, 2021: “Qualified Broadband Projects” and “Carbon Dioxide Capture Facilities ...
University of Strathclyde v. Clear-Vu Lighting LLC, Appeal No. 2021-2243 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 4, 2021) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit reversed an inter partes review decision finding claims directed to light-based disinfecting methods to be obvious over the prior art. This case provides a helpful example of how negative claim limitations can affect an obviousness determination ...
The FCA has updated its guidance on remote and hybrid working – firms (and applicants) need to ensure they are up to speed with the revisions. On 11 October 2021, the FCA published an update on its guidance to firms (and applicants) on remote and hybrid working models ...
Increased public awareness of data protection regulations has sparked a rise in claims for damages associated with distress caused by data breaches. Many claims are made in response to serious breaches that have caused financial loss or significant distress, however organisations are increasingly receiving significant financial claims for relatively minor breaches ...