The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is modifying the computer program it uses to calculate Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) in light of the recent decision in Wyeth v. Kappos, No. 2009-1120 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 7, 2010). In Wyeth, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed that the USPTO has been improperly calculating patent term adjustment under 35 U.S.C. § 154(b). The Federal Circuit’s decision will result in additional patent term for many U.S ...
Dear Sirs, On December 31, 2009 the provisions of the Federal Law No ...
Dear Sirs, On November 27, 2009 the Order of the Federal Service on Financial Markets dated August 13, 2009 ¹ 09-33/pz-n “On peculiarities of the procedure of maintaining the register of registered securities’ holders by the issuers of registered securities” (hereinafter the “Order”) came into force ...
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the “HITECH Act”) makes significant changes to the privacy and security requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended (“HIPAA”) ...
On 27 January 2010, the UK High Court (Technology and Construction) handed down its decision in the long running case of BSkyB v EDS. The decision by Ramsey J, although subject to potential appeal, could well become a landmark case affecting tenders, pitches and contracts for the provision of services ...
In a decision that is not surprising, but that should be welcomed by lenders (but perhaps not by borrowers), the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court held in Amcan Holdings, Inc., et al. vs. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, et al., Case No. 603393/07, that a detailed, executed term sheet was not a binding contract to lend. Amcan sought financing from CIBC to finance an acquisition and refinance certain existing debt ...
On January 21, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the restrictions on corporate expenditures encompassed in the Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (commonly known as the McCain-Feingold Act). The 5-4 opinion found the Act’s prohibition on the use of general treasury funds by corporations or unions to directly advocate the election or defeat of candidates or to broadcast electioneering communications ran afoul of the First Amendment’s established protections of free speech ...
Over the past decade, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has set a high bar for securities fraud class action plaintiffs, denying class certification in a number of cases. But in light of the financial crisis and language in recent Fifth Circuit decisions, some may have thought that the tide might be turning. On February 12, 2010, the Fifth Circuit dispelled that notion in The Archdiocese of Milwaukee Supporting Fund v. Halliburton ...
The verdict has finally arrived in the long-running IT dispute between EDS and BSkyB, for which the trial ended over a year ago. With legal fees of around £70m and an anticipated damages award of £200m (against a contract reportedly worth only £48m), the case will change the landscape of supplying IT products and services forever. EDS supplied a customer relationship management system to BSkyB ...
As the tax-exempt environment continues to become increasingly complex and focused on compliance and governance, it becomes more important to be aware of issues significant to the IRS. We have highlighted below a few of the issues on the IRS’ radar for 2010. Employment Tax Examinations ...
On January 1, 2010, the Texas Business Organizations Code (“TBOC”) became applicable to all Texas entities and foreign entities required to register to do business in Texas ...
On January 19, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its annual adjustment to the pre-merger notification filing thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (HSR), and for the first time in history, the HSR thresholds were decreased. The new thresholds became effective February 22, 2010 ...
When a governmental entity believes that information requested from it under the Texas Public Information Act (“PIA”) is exempt from disclosure, the PIA requires the entity to request an attorney general’s opinion within 10 business days after receiving the request. However, the PIA also allows the governmental entity to ask the requestor to clarify a request it finds to be unclear ...
By Igor Svechkar, Partner with AstersLatest Developments Despite great expectations, 2009 has not seen any major legislative developments, the most noticeable changes relating to unfair competition regulation – in early 2009 the restatement of the Unfair Competition Act 1996 took effect to exclude a number of rudiments and bring the law into procedural conformity with the Competition Act 2001 ...
The increased scrutiny on company directors means there is an onus on them to be aware of their roles and responsibilities. As the recent Residence receivership case showed, company directors are facing greater scrutiny than ever by the courts. While many cases arise because of personal borrowings or guarantees, many relate to whether a director has acted honestly and responsibly as a director ...
Since the start of 2009, there have been material changes to the form and content of periodic reports and proxy statements. This memorandum outlines the changes in the federal securities laws and New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) rules since January 2009 that impact the form and content of 2009 Forms 10-K and 2010 proxy statements for domestic issuers subject to Regulation S-K.Topics included in the guide are as follows: I ...
By Armen Khachaturyan, Senior Partner and Iryna Pokanay, Partner at Asters2009 was a difficult year for Ukrainian capital markets. The Global Recession badly affected the real sector of Ukrainian economy and practically froze activities on raising debt or equity capital. The doors of international debt and equity capital markets remained closed for Ukrainian borrowers throughout the year. Raising debt on the domestic market proved to be not less difficult ...
By Oleksandr I. Vygovskyy, Associate with AstersThe world financial crisis seriously affecting the Ukrainian economy became an "endurance test" for a greater part of Ukrainian companies at various sectors of national economy. Outstanding corporate debts are menacingly zooming up, and many companies, unable to service their debt burden, appeared next door to bankruptcy ...
At the end of January, the 468-page judgement of BSkyB v EDS was published, nearly eighteen months after the court hearing closed. Many, varied and worrying predictions as to the potential impact of this judgement had been made, but ultimately the judgement is unlikely to lead to radical changes in the relationship between IT and other suppliers and their customers ...
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The Texas Business Organizations Code (the “TBOC”) – enacted in 2003 and generally effective January 1, 2006 – combined the laws found in a number of Texas statutes (including the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act and the Texas Unincorporated Non-Profit Association Act), standardized filing requirements and fees for Texas entities, made other substantive changes, and implemented new terminology ...
Dear Sirs, We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Ministry for Economic Development of the Russian Federation has drafted the Federal law “On amending the Civil Ñode of the Russian Federation, the Federal law “On joint stock companies” and some other legal acts of the Russian Federation” (hereafter – “the Draft law”) ...
Once again, Congress has extended the period during which an individual must be involuntarily terminated (as defined for purposes of the COBRA subsidy, an “Invol Term”) to be eligible for the COBRA subsidy. Invol Terms occurring through March 31, 2010 will be eligible for the COBRA subsidy. This change is effective retroactively, so that those persons with an Invol Term on March 1, 2010 are still eligible for the COBRA Subsidy ...
CONTENTS *Major Reform to Quebec Corporate Law *Contesting Property Assessment *Basic Notions About Foreign Workers or Business Immigration 101 On October 7, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Quebec tabled Bill 63 entitled the Business Corporations Act (the “Bill”). The Bill was assented to on December 4, 2009 by the National Assembly and will come into force some time in 2011 ...
by Dr. Martin Imhof The District Court of Frankfurt has recently issued a crucial decision in which the court casted reasonable doubt on the effectiveness of the notarization of an assignment or a pledging of shares in a German limited liability company (GmbH) by a Swiss notary ...
