Treehouse Avatar LLC v. Valve Corp., Appeal No. 2022-1171 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 30, 2022) In the only precedential patent opinion issued by the Federal Circuit this week, the Court affirmed a district court’s summary judgment ruling that appellee Valve Corporation’s popular “Dota 2” and “Team Fortress 2” online videogames did not infringe Treehouse Avatar’s U.S. Patent No ...
Initially published by Thomson Reuters [23 November 2022], Shoosmiths partner Sam Tyfield comments on the implications of the recent call for regulation by cryptocurrency firms. Cryptocurrency firms and lobbyists have reacted to the collapse and bankruptcy of FTX by calling for regulation. When unpacked, however, their pleas to be regulated reveal an industry wanting regulation on its own terms while unwilling to face home truths about its faults and efficacy ...
The countdown to the next stage of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) is on. All let commercial property will be subject to MEES from April 2023. This extension of the scheme should be viewed in the context of a growing commitment to ESG within the real estate industry and many property owners and occupiers having developed ESG policies which will drive improvements to the energy rating of their properties ...
There’s a common quip in Washington that federal employees leaving their jobs to work in the private sector are “going to the Dark Side.” However, what is not so funny for federal contractors and former executive branch employees is when the application process for — or the performance of work at — the new job runs afoul of ethics laws and regulations. For example, Oracle America Inc ...
The Malta Business Registry has published a notice informing the public of a key change to its online website company register portal. Access by the general public to the beneficial ownership details of companies registered with the Malta Business Registry has been removed following a judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union ...
In a circular dated the 15th of November 2022, the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) confirmed that electronic signatures which are done with a ‘qualified electronic signature’ shall be accepted by the MFSA ...
The UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) guidance for sponsors was updated on 9 November 2022 with some helpful clarifications. In part 1, we detail the changes at the early stages of sponsorship. 1. Clarification of Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) exemption It is important that when assigning an Undefined Certificate of Sponsorship (“CoS”), you select the correct option with regards to the category of application so that the ISC can be paid if required ...
In the first part of our summary of the recent changes to the sponsor guidance, we looked at the changes relating to the early parts of sponsorship. In this part, we look at the remaining changes, including changes to salary levels and NMC registration for nurses. 1 ...
Last year a new landmark report was launched by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), aimed at changing the diversity of the people building the critical national infrastructure - as they have not always reflected the diversity of the people and communities who will ultimately use it ...
How can investors, developers and the public sector find value in an ever-changing environment? This was the big central question forming the basis for EG’s recent Scottish Cities Live event, of which Shoosmiths was a sponsor ...
The Firm acted for a corporate licensed Moneylender in an appeal against the High Court decision in Summerhay Development Sdn Bhd v Ivory Ascent Sdn Bhd (2020 1 LNS 1491 and 2020 MLJU 1549) and was successful in overturning the High Court decision in J-02(NCvC)(A)-1095-08/2020. The Court of Appeal’s decision was subsequently affirmed by the Federal Court and the borrower’s motion for leave to appeal was dismissed by the Federal Court (08(f)-415-09/2021(J)) ...
Employers subject to the personalized rate or retrospective rate regime know how important it is to control the costs related to occupational injury cases in order to limit the impact on their annual premiums. One way to attain this objective is to apply for a transfer of costs under section 326 of the Act Respecting Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases ...
Background On November 23, 2022, the President of the Chilean Republic submitted to the National Congress a bill amending the Mining Code, Law No. 21,420 and other legal provisions related to the mining sector (the "Bill"). Its purpose is to address and resolve the inconsistencies and gaps contained in Law No. 21,420, as well as to adjust and improve several provisions of the Mining Code, the Constitutional Organic Law on Mining Concessions and Decree Law No ...
The agreement on a new EU-U.S. data privacy framework between EU Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen and U.S. President Joe Biden had already been announced on 25 March 2022 (for background, please refer to our previous article The EU-US Privacy Shield: Third Time’s a Charm? – Mamo TCV) ...
As we discussed in prior updates, on July 13, 2022, Christian Bruckner filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in Tampa, Florida, seeking to enjoin the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s set-aside of 10% (around $37 billion) of transportation funding for “small business concerns” owned and controlled by “socially and economically disadvantaged individuals ...
On 17 November 2022, the State Administration Council (“SAC”) enacted the Law Amending the 2022 Union Tax Law (“2022 UTL Amendment”). This law provides tax exemptions for Battery Electric Vehicles (“BEVs”) and increases the corporate income tax rate of companies engaged in the oil and gas exploration and production sector in Myanmar. We highlight below the major changes under this law: 1 ...
Following the 2018 enactment of regulations governing contractual terms contained in vehicle hire-purchase agreements, the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (“OCPB”) has recently resolved to adjust such regulatory scheme as part of their initiatives to alleviate the ongoing economic downturn and financial hardships suffered by consumers as a result of the pandemic, and to prevent consumers being subject to any unfair contractual terms in this respect ...
On November 21, 2022, the Financial Market Commission (the "CMF") published the General Rule No. 489 (“Rule 489”) complementing the provisions of Chapter III. H ...
Congratulations! You won your case in court and all the expense and hard work of the past few months, or years (not to mention the broken business relationships and sleepless nights along the way) might just have been worth it to experience this moment of jubilation ...
On June 23, 2022, Bill C-19 received Royal Assent. The bill was introduced by the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and resulted in amendments to the Copyright Act1 that will come into force on December 30, 2022, further to an order in council issued earlier this week ...
Over the last 10 years or so, we have seen a lot of buzz and excitement around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. According to research conducted by Which? into a selection of deals from last year it seems that the lure of a Black Friday deal isn't all it cracks up to be and that it isn't necessarily the cheapest time of the year to shop ...
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has this morning handed down a landmark judgment in which it has ruled that the EU's Fourth AML Directive (EU2015/849) whereby Member States must ensure that the information held on beneficial ownership registers is accessible to any member of the general public is INVALID as being a breach of Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union ...
