As noted in our previous client update, judicial rulings on the patent-eligibility of software and business method patents under section 101 of the U.S. Patent Act have run heavily against patent owners since Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. ___, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014). (See 11/17/2014 Client Update). On Friday December 5, 2014, however, the U.S ...
On December 2, 2014, the Yukon Supreme Court struck down the Yukon government’s Peel watershed regional land use plan because of the government’s failure to follow the process for developing that plan under final agreements (modern treaties) with the Na-Cho Nyak Dun, Tr’ondek Hwech’in and Vuntut Gwichin First Nations ...
Action: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has issued a final rule increasing the limit of liability for damages under the Oil Pollution Act to $133.65 million. BOEM’s Final Rule: On December 12, 2014, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a final rule that, effective January 12, 2015, will increase from $75 million to $133 ...
The Minister of Communications and Informatics issued Regulation No. 19 of 2014 on Controlling Internet Websites Containing Negative Content (Regulation 19). Regulation 19 has been in force since 17 July 2014. This regulation aims to implement “the safe and healthy use of the internet” by all social groups by blocking access to websites that contain pornographic or unlawful material (negative content) ...
In recent weeks the US Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a substantial settlement with the car manufactures Hyundai and Kia. The car manufacturers agreed to pay $100 million penalty as a settlement, arising from a complaint that the car companies sold nearly 1 ...
As part of the implementation of the Energy Reform, the Mexican Government has selected certain areas and fields out of Round One which will be tendered for private industry participation in hydrocarbon exploration and production projects. Round One comprises 109 blocks for exploration and 60 blocks for production, and includes new areas of different sizes and types of resources, including: (i) deep-water; (ii) shallow-water; and (iii) on-shore fields ...
Oil markets have fallen significantly since the latest round of borrowing base redeterminations in September and October. The next scheduled round of redeterminations is set for March. Expectations are that there will be substantial downward pressure on producers’ borrowing bases. Some reductions could trigger mandatory principal amortization which would have serious consequences for highly leveraged oil and gas companies ...
Policy & Law: What is the government policy and legislative framework for the electricity sector? Securing energy supply, competitive energy prices and meeting the European Union’s common energy and climate goals are core elements of policy in the Finnish electricity sector ...
The Brazilian Ministry for Mines and Energy has issued Ordinance No. 653, which outlines the procedures for the A-5 Power Bid to be held on April 30, 2015. The bid will auction Regulated Market Energy Commercialization Contracts (CCEAR) to be negotiated on two fronts: (i) Quantity for hydroelectric power plants, and (ii) Availability for coal-fired plants, natural gas-fired combined cycle plants and biomass ...
Self-driving cars are still years away, but technological advances are making vehicles safer and more personalized right now. Here’s what that means for the industry. If you’re on the streets of Northern California in the next few months, you might pass a tiny car that looks like a smiling kid’s toy. It may be cute or creepy, depending on your perspective, but to some it’s a vision of the future: a Google-made, self-driven car ...
Last January 14, the Communications and Transportation Ministry published the prequalification rules pertaining the international open tender number PO-009000988-N1-2015 awarding the construction of a high speed train project that will run in the route Mexico, D.F. - Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, including the definitive executive program, construction, supply, set up and extended testing of a railway track, rolling stock, equipment, systems and other components ...
On January 15th, Resolution DGA N° 3,438 was published. It contains a list of water rights subject to the payment of a fine for lack of use. The fine must be paid during the month of March, 2015. The term to contest such resolution is 30 days, as counted from the date of publishing. To review the list of water rights affected by the payment of fines for non-use click here ...
You can’t open up the paper these days without news of declining oil prices and fears of uncertainty for the oil and gas industry. As part of Haynes and Boone’s alert series on this topic, we continue our review, this time focusing on the contango spread and how market participants are responding. It seems like there is a sprint taking place to lock in the benefits of the current contango spread ...
The Texas Supreme Court recently declined to reach a question of significant interest to energy companies and landowners—whether deep subsurface wastewater migration can give rise to trespass liability when the wastewater crosses lease lines. See Envt’l Processing Sys., L.C. v. FPL Farming Ltd., No. 12-0905 (Tex. Feb. 6, 2015) ...
This week, I caught up with patent attorneys Jonathan D’Silva and Bryan Walker of MacDonald Illig Jones & Britton, LLP to hear their perspectives on some key strategic intellectual property (IP) legal issues ...
Prior articles in our series demonstratedways to stretch a borrowing base and how to address defaults on oil and gasloans. If a producer ultimately finds itself with a shrunken borrowing base andlimited liquidity, the producer in turn might not be able to pay balances dueto its contractors. An unpaid contractor may be able to file a mechanic’s andmaterialman’s (“M&M”) lien on the producer’s mineral property ...
The new Myanmar Electricity Law was enacted by the Myanmar Parliament on October 27 last year, replacing the old Electricity Law of 1984. The old electricity law was enacted during Myanmar’s socialist period and lacked the legal framework to include private sector participation in power projects and independent power producers ...
The new Myanmar Electricity Law was enacted by the Myanmar Parliament on October 27 last year, replacing the old Electricity Law of 1984. The old electricity law was enacted during Myanmar’s socialist period and lacked the legal framework to include private sector participation in power projects and independent power producers ...
On March 1st, 2015, the federal Minister of Finance, Joe Oliver, and the federal Minister of Natural Resources, Greg Rickford, announced important new measures to support Canada’s mining industry in a speech at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2015 Convention ...
In an opinion that should give pause to mineral lessors, the Texas Supreme Court revisited the scope of the duty that an executive rights holder owes a non-executive, holding that a lessor’s negotiation of an above-market bonus (for itself) and below-market royalty (shared with the non-executive) may give rise to liability to the non-executive.KCM Financial LLC v. Bradshaw, No. 13-0199, 2015 Tex. LEXIS 220, --- S.W.3d --- (Tex. Mar. 6, 2015) ...
When copyright has been infringed online, what court is competent to hear and decide the case? The EU top court’s recent ruling provides clarity and states that online infringement cases can be heard where the infringing content is accessible. The content right holders will be able to take legal action against the infringer in their home countries, but only regarding damage that occurred there ...
As part of our series on legal issues arising out of the plummeting commodity prices, this article looks at one distinct factor in the commodity finance equation: hedging. Hedging is usually thought of in terms of cash-settled derivatives offered by lenders as part of a broader financial relationship tied together by a credit agreement and perhaps collateral documents. But many other transactions blend hedging and finance attributes ...
The new Myanmar Electricity Law was enacted by the Myanmar Parliament on October 27 last year, replacing the old Electricity Law of 1984. The old electricity law was enacted during Myanmar’s socialist period and lacked the legal framework to include private sector participation in power projects and independent power producers ...
In the recent judgment of “The Owners of the mv “Silver Star” v Hilane Limited”*, several important principles were established, namely: Full effect must be given to the right to proceed against an associated ship of a charterer in respect of a maritime claim that arises in the course of the Charter ...
This coming Sunday, March 29, CME Group plans to launch the first ever physically-delivered crude oil storage futures contract. CME Group is able to make this contract available having teamed up with LOOP LLC (“LOOP”) (LOOP owns and operates the deepwater port and associated onshore terminal with significant crude oil handling, storage and re-distribution capabilities located in Clovelly, Louisiana, sometimes called the “Clovelly Hub”) and NEO Markets Inc. (“NEO”) ...
