The Trump administration’s significant escalation of the trade dispute with China after months-long U.S.-China trade talks have faltered is a major news headline as the week concludes. The U.S. followed through on its warnings and increased tariffs on an estimated $200 billion of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent starting May 10th. At the same time, the U.S. announced importers will be able to apply for an exemption from these tariffs ...
The courts’ widening of liability for polluted land and groundwater continues. From two new rulings it can be understood that taking responsibility in agreements can be held against the company that has chosen to be responsible. The fact that a person who pursues an activity or takes a measure (an “operator”) which results in pollution is also liable for the pollution is made clear in chapter 10 of Sweden’s Environmental Code ...
Did you know? At the end of last year, US Customers and Border Protection officers seized around US$1.3 million worth in China counterfeit toys at the Port of New York and New Jersey. The seizure included more than 141,000 counterfeit UNO card games, 9,600 "LOL Surprise! Under Wraps” balls and almost 2000 “LOL Surprise!” capsule toys ...
Current State of Shopping Centers Our legacy shopping centers are often well-located, near transportation routes, population centers and employment hubs. Post-recession enthusiasm for shopping encouraged the expansion of many retail stores and product lines, and rental rates for prime shopping locations continues to grow ...
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw) has kept its Tier 1 ranking in M&A, and in Restructuring and Insolvency, in the latest launch of the IFLR1000 rankings, the guide to the world’s leading financial and corporate law firms. Earlier this year, SyCipLaw also received Tier 1 rankings in Banking, Capital markets: Equity, Project development, and in Project finance ...
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw) has received Tier 1 rankings in “Patents” and “Copyrights/Trademarks” categories in the Philippines on Thomson Reuters’ Asian Legal Business (ALB) IP Rankings for 2022. ALB is a publication that provides insights on legal professionals throughout Asia and identifies and ranks top firms for intellectual property practice in Asia ...
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw) is once again recognized by Managing IP’s IP STARS 2022 as a Tier 1 firm for its Patent practice. Earlier this year, SyCipLaw was also cited as a Tier 1 firm for its Trade mark work. In addition, the firm’s IP practitioners once again received outstanding rankings this year: Vida M. Panganiban-Alindogan, Partner and Head of IP Department (IPD), Trade Mark StarEnrique T ...
The California State Water Resources Control Board issued a notice today that all water users diverting water in California under Water Rights Permits, Licenses, Stockpond Certificates and Registration for Livestock Stockpond, Small Domestic or Small Irrigation uses must submit their annual water use reporting for the 2016 calendar year by April 1, 2017. All such reports must be filed online via the Report Management System (RMS) located at https://rms.waterboards.ca.gov/ ...
The global spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus infection has led to significant changes in the Russian retail trade. This pandemic has forced millions of people to stay at home, avoid public places and, of course, buy less. To adapt to the new features of consumer behaviour, retailers need to promptly respond, adapt, or dramatically change their business processes and strategies ...
Why is green hydrogen important and what is its role in energy transition? The UK’s first official Hydrogen Week takes centre stage this week, bringing together stakeholders across the UK to celebrate and promote the role of hydrogen in reaching net zero (NZ) ...
Activists and government leaders are sounding the death knell for our planet unless something is done about climate change. But while sustainability is important, sustainability reporting may not be the answer. In a headline-hogging speech at the UN last month, 16-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg berated politicians and business people for doing too little to arrest climate change, ruining the globe for future generations. High-profile scandals back up her claim ...
Population growth has become the be-all and end-all for economic prosperity, but how on Earth can we cope with the extra billions of people? While “leafing” – or should I instead say “scrolling” in today’s need to sound tech savvy – through the news websites, the two subjects seemed to have captured the media’s attention: immigration and plastic ...
They’ve finally taken the plunge and decided to go it alone, they’re just about to launch the brilliant business plan that’s going to set them up for life and then, out of the blue, granny puts her oar in and everything goes pear-shaped. Just a month ago, we wrote about how Harry and Meghan were set to launch their Sussex Royal brand ...
The Federal Environmental Agency (“IBAMA”) published Ordinance No. 01/2017, which provides for the improvement and unification of the procedures of suspension and/or blocking of the access to the Forest Origin Document (“FOD”) module. FOD is an instrument of the National Control System of the Origin of Forest Products (“SINAFLOR”) for the control of transportation and storage of forest products. In this sense, Ordinance No ...
The No Surprises Act (Act), which became effective Jan. 1, 2022, is the latest health care law passed with the best of intent: to create consumer protection from unexpected out-of-network medical bills and to create a federal independent dispute resolution (IDR) process to resolve payment disputes between payers and out-of-network providers. Unfortunately, the Act, especially the U.S ...
Congress approved Supreme Decree Nº 2954, on Integral Waste Management (the “Regulation”) within the framework of article 344 of the Constitution, which provides that the State shall regulate the internment, production, commercialization and use of techniques, methods, input materials and substances that affect health and the environment ...
Michigan vs. EPA, the Supreme Court continues to curtail EPA’s ability to regulate emissions from power plants by limiting the deference the Court will grant EPA on issues of statutory construction. In the 5 to 4 decision, authored by Justice Scalia and joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito, the Court held that EPA’s air toxic standards for regulating mercury emissions from coal fired power plants were “unreasonable ...
We previously reported on recent efforts to rescind the Obama Administration’s rule amending the Clean Water Act’s “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) definition. This followed, as we also reported, the Sixth Circuit’s nationwide stay of the Obama Administration’s WOTUS rule ...
As the Trump administration is pushing forward on its deregulatory agenda and, in particular, its efforts to improve the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and its implementation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (together, the Services), the Supreme Court is poised to hear a landmark case on designation of critical habitat under the ESA that could provide some guideposts for the Services’ new regulations ...
A divided Supreme Court held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exceeded its authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA) when it required certain sources emitting greenhouse gases (GHG) to obtain permits under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V Operating Permits (Title V) programs. The decision in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA (No. 12-1146) on Monday, June 23, reversed the decision of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal that upheld EPA’s rules ...
As we have previously commented, once COVID came along force majeure became, understandably, a hot topic but case law on the subject was light. We are now however starting to see a trickle of cases emerging which consider force majeure. In RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV however, the Supreme Court has now handed down a significant judgment that clarifies the rights and obligations of contracting parties under a force majeure clause ([2024] UKSC 18) ...
The Supreme Court has handed down one of the most anticipated Endangered Species Act (ESA) rulings in recent years. In Weyerhaeuser Co. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serv., the Supreme Court unanimously overruled the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, holding that the Fish and Wildlife Service can only designate property that is “habitat” as critical habitat under the ESA ...
On March 21, 2012, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in the much-publicized case of Sackett v. EPA (No. 10-1062), less than three months after oral argument, holding that the Sacketts were not precluded from judicially challenging EPA’s issuance of an administrative compliance order ...
The Twenty-first Amendment—which repealed Prohibition—gives states broad authority to regulate alcohol within their borders. But can states impose residency requirements on alcohol retail licensees? The U.S. Supreme Court, by a vote of seven to two in Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Ass’n v. Thomas, answered no. As state alcohol regulators adjust their licensing processes to comply with the ruling, retailers and wholesalers may see changes in the alcohol market ...
In a decision released Wednesday, July 20,(1) the Supreme Court of Canada has overturned Court of Appeal decisions from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia finding that Mi’kmaq people have a treaty right to harvest timber for commercial purposes. In so doing, the Court also provided guidance on how to assess aboriginal title claims ...
