On the 4th March 2021, the Seventh Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued its decision on an important matter related to the breach of ambient air quality legislation by the UK government (European Commission v. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, c-664/18). This case is only one among several others filed by the Commission against EU Member States, including France, Italy, Bulgaria and Hungary ...
Signals from the SEC regarding the growing importance to the Commission of ESG disclosures keep coming, seemingly daily. The recently appointed acting director of the Division of Corporation Finance has long pushed the agency for “relevant, material, decision-useful ESG disclosure.” More recently, the SEC announced the creation and filling of the position of senior policy advisor for climate and ESG in the office of Acting Chair Allison Herren Lee ...
There were a lot of good green measures in the Budget and the government deserves credit for recognising the vital role that net zero transition will play in determining our future prosperity. Not just building back stronger but building back greener, with reference clearly made to the role the headline announcement of Freeports will have in supporting the delivery of the UK’s clean energy revolution ...
The Supreme Court has declined to take up the issue of False Claims Act (FCA) “objective falsity” in relation to medical opinions, denying certiorari in paired cases from the Third Circuit (United States ex rel. Druding v. Care Alternatives, Inc.)[1] and Ninth Circuit (Winter ex rel. United States v. Gardens Reg’l Hosp. & Med. Ctr., Inc.) ...
On 19 February 2021, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark judgment which confirmed that Uber drivers are workers and not independent contractors. We look at the basis for the decision and what it means for other employers. Background This case began back in 2016, when Uber drivers Mr Aslam, Mr Farrar and others submitted a claim to the Employment Tribunal (ET) regarding their employment status ...
It’s been more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and many companies are attempting to market products intended to help consumers deal with the risks associated with COVID-19. Some of the most common examples of such products include face masks, testing devices, hand sanitizers, and hard-surface disinfectants ...
CRIMINAL Counterfeit VaccinesBy Andre Augusto Mendes Machado and Mariana Murad Leiva Counterfeiting vaccines may lead to criminal liability, usually for the crime foreseen in article 273 of the Brazilian Penal Code, that punishes with imprisonment from 10 to 15 years in addition to the payment of a fine the acts of "falsifying, corrupting, adulterating or modifying products intended for therapeutic or medicinal purposes" ...
The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council recently issued its long-awaited final rule1 limiting the ability of civilian agencies to use the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) procurement method. The final FAR rule — which took effect on February 16, 2021, and largely tracks the language contained in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) final rule from 2019 2 — is codified at FAR 15.101-2 ...
With the new year comes a new president. Will the new year and administration also bring new water policy? Bet on it. Just as President Trump undid President Obama’s signature water policy decision—the Clean Water Rule, which clarified and arguably expanded federal water permitting jurisdiction—President Biden is likely to rewind many of President Trump’s water policy (and, more generally, environmental policy) decisions over the next four or more years ...
On 25 February, 2021 the triumvirate of European Supervisory Authorities, the EBA, EIOPA and ESMA (the "ESAs") published a joint statement on the effective and consistent application and national supervision of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation ("SFDR"). The joint statement is intended to help mitigate the risks of divergent application of the SFDR, and promote a level playing field to protect investors ...
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman ruled yesterday that Cal/OSHA can continue to enforce its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard Regulation (ETS), at least for now. On February 25, 2021, Judge Schulman issued an order denying Plaintiffs' applications for a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the Cal/OSHA's COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard Regulation (ETS) in two cases ...
It’s been more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and many companies are attempting to market products intended to help consumers deal with the risks associated with COVID-19. Some of the most common examples of such products include face masks, testing devices, hand sanitizers, and hard-surface disinfectants ...
The UK Government has published the National Security and Investment Bill – a proposed law that will introduce a screening process for certain acquisitions and investments and which is expected to come into force as early as April 2021. The National Security and Investment Bill has now had its second reading and is expected to come into force as early as April 2021. We take a look at what it will cover ...
On 24 February 2021, the Finance Secretary Paul Chan delivered the 2021-22 Budget which highlighted upcoming government initiatives to promote the establishment of and re-domiciliation of offshore funds to Hong Kong using the Hong Kong open-ended fund company structure (OFC) ...
Bradley attorneys Aron Beezley and Nathaniel Greeson highlight the administrative bid protest landscape in New York given the state's abundant acquisition economy. New York state's budget is the second largest in the country, and with it, New York has some of the most developed state acquisition laws and procedures in the country. Accordingly, New York provides comparatively robust bid protest rights when it comes to state-level bid protests ...
As we near the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, trademark maintenance deadlines in 2021 create new obstacles for registrants. To maintain a federal trademark registration, registrants must periodically file an affidavit of use under Section 8, swearing that the mark is in use in commerce or that the registrant has an acceptable excuse for nonuse. Recent office actions show that the U.S ...
In its most recent issue, For The Defense published an article by Dinsmore partner Richik Sarkar’s called "The Amicus Brief: An Efficient And Elegant Public Policy Tool." The article examines how, when properly employed, an amicus brief can be the best tool to effect lasting change for the benefit of the amicus and similar parties, industries, and legal interests. An excerpt is below ...
Did you know? China’s new patent law, which comes into effect on 1 June 2021, will significantly change the design patent regime and will see the introduction of partial design protection, the extension of the design patent term from 10 years to 15 years and the acceptance of domestic Chinese design patent filings as a basis for priority ...
On 12 January 2021, the Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency (“MOA”) issued Regulation No.1 of 2021 on Electronic Certificates (“MOA Reg. 1/2021”). This new regulation is intended to optimize the use of information and communication technology by implementing electronic-based land services and thus improve public services and the ease of doing business. Under MOA Reg ...
Key Points Later this month, the Berkeley City Council is expected to consider ending exclusionary zoning by December 2022. The city has a long history of implementing single-family zoning, which encourages more expensive stand-alone homes that are often inaccessible to disadvantaged populations. The shift would place Berkeley, which in 1916 became the nation's first city with single-family zoning, at the forefront of a modern era of inclusionary housing policy ...
Like every other higher education leader, I spent most of the last 10 months reacting to the operational imperatives driven by the COVID-19 crisis. Each day presented a novel crisis, and just when we thought we’d see no more plot twists, a new one emerged. In the midst of that maelstrom and as the state’s higher education chief, I often found myself trying to find elusive time to process what these daily crises meant for our enterprise over the long term ...
Introduction On 27 August 2020 the European Commission, on behalf of EU member states, entered into an advance purchase agreement (APA) with AstraZeneca for the production, purchase and supply of the Anglo-Swedish company's COVID-19 vaccine in the European Union.(1) The APA provides for: AstraZeneca's supply of 300 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine (the initial Europe doses); and an option for the European Union to order an additional 100 million doses (the optional doses) ...
Introduction On 21 January 2021 a new royal decree was published in the Official Gazette which has temporarily extended occupational doctors' role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in the workplace ...
