A recent decision involving registered designs is a reminder of how useful design law can be, in the sense that it can be used to protect an almost limitless range of products. The decision in the UK case of Ahmet Erol v Sumaira Javaid (Design) (a decision of the Appointed Person, 18 May 2017) does not create any law, but it does illustrate two things. The first is how registered designs can often be very low-tech ...
The trial of murder-accused Henri van Breda has attracted widespread media attention in recent months. Now, the Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”) has delivered an important judgment linked to the case regarding the media’s right to broadcast aspects of court proceedings – not only in the Van Breda case, but in other cases too ...
An increasing number of African companies do business in the Far East, and many of them register their trade marks in the region’s major markets. So, it’s interesting to look at trade mark developments in the major markets from time-to-time. In this article, we look at some recent decisions in China, India and Japan. China China is probably the major market for most African companies and we have discussed Chinese trade mark issues in a number of our articles ...
The pieces of the puzzle are finally falling into place. The long-awaited level 3 and 4 measures have been published earlier this week, half a year before the PRIIPs KID becomes compulsory.On 4 July 2017 the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published a Questions and Answers document related to the PRIIPs KID which reverts to questions linked with the presentation, content and review of the KID, including the methodologies underpinning the risk, reward and costs information ...
Act 27 was published in the Official Gazette No. 28285-B earlier this year, establishes the Paternity Leave, applicable both to employees of private sector, as well as to public servants, effective since May 25th, 2017.This Act, whose initiative was promoted by the Ministry of Labor, is based on the duty of the Panamanian state to protect the family, sacred in our Constitution ...
Earlier this year the Federal Law " On Amendments to Articles 1252 and 1486 of the 4th part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Articles 4 and 99 of the Arbitrazh Procedural Code of Russia" entered into force.The amendments relate to pre-trial procedure for resolving intellectual property disputes.1 ...
Following an industrial arbitration award in 2012, a teacher in an educational institution became aware that, for a long time, he had been subject to a wrong collective agreement and had therefore not received enough salary. Against this background, a dispute arose regarding, inter alia, adjustment of salary, overtime pay, holiday pay and pension contribution for the period 1 October 2007 - February 2009. Judgment of 30 May 2017 from the Danish Eastern High Court ...
Gender discrimination is a hot topic for California employers, with a recent California appellate court decision regarding sexual orientation discrimination and new regulations issued by the California Fair Employment and Housing Council (FEHC) regarding transgender discrimination. In Husman v. Toyota, (Case No ...
It was not until the late 1970s that deep-water offshore oil and gas exploration became significantly viable. The driver was the ever increasing demand for oil and gas products that provided the opportunity to raise the capital necessary to design and then build the incredibly complex floating assets needed to explore for and then to produce oil and gas in such hostile environments ...
The use of fixed-term employment contracts has been the subject of contention for many years. Opponents to their use have argued that because these contracts terminate automatically after the period of time for which they have been entered into, they can be used to avoid liability for unfair dismissal ...
On 9 November 2016, a notice was published by the South African Department of Trade and Industry (the “DTI”), in terms of which the DTI proposed that all major broad-based black economic empowerment (“B-BBEE”) ownership transactions, as per code 100 of the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice, which equal or exceed ZAR100-million, calculated by either combining the annual turnover of both entities or their asset values (the “Proposed Threshold”), must
The South African Constitutional Court has found that cabinet ministers can now be held personally liable for the costs of legal proceedings to which they are a party. This finding was made in the case of Black Sash Trust v Minister of Social Development and Others (Freedom Under Law NPC Intervening), in which judgment was delivered on 15 June 2017 ...
In its recent decision in TFD Network Africa (Pty) Ltd v Singh NO & Others, the Labour Appeal Court (the “LAC”) considered the interpretation of section 17 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (“the “BCEA”); in particular, subsections 17(1) and (2), which regulate night work. Subsections 17(1) and (2) read as follows: “(1) In this section, 'night work' means work performed after 18:00 and before 06:00 the next day ...
New Law No 125-FZ amending regulation of overtime and part-time work was signed by the Russian President earlier this year (hereinafter – the “Law”). The Law went into force on June 29, 2017. Highlight below is the most important novelties introduced by the Law. Part-Time Work The parties of labour relations may now agree on any length and frequency of an employee’s working hours ...
New regulations issued by the California Fair Employment and Housing Council, effective July 1, 2017, limit California employers’ use of criminal history when making employment decisions ...
Last month, the Supreme Court decided TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, which narrowed the definition of where a corporate defendant "resides" for the purpose of suing it for patent infringement. In doing so, it overturned the 1994 holding of the Federal Circuit of what constitutes proper venue in patent infringement cases. Federal law allows a Plaintiff to bring a patent infringement suit against a defendant in any district where one of two conditions are met ...
Under Israeli law, the employment of a foreign employee who is not a citizen or resident of Israel is a criminal offense, except if the person requesting to employ the foreign employee received a special permit from the Population and Immigration Authority (the "Authority") pursuant to the Foreign Workers Law, 5751-1991 ...
In May 2017, the Israeli Innovation Authority (the successor of the Office of Chief Scientist), a division of the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry (the "Innovation Authority"), issued new rules1 becoming applicable to Israeli companies that receive grants from the Innovation Authority ("Funded Companies") ...
After several delays, the Department of Labor’s (the “DOL’s”) final “fiduciary” rule expanding the definition of who is an investment advice fiduciary became effective on June 9, 2017 ...
Long-term care (LTC) facilities received a boost last week when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reversed its position regarding the use of arbitration agreements in this setting. On June 8, 2017, CMS published a proposed rule amending LTC facilities’ conditions of participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to remove prohibitions on binding pre-dispute arbitration agreements ...
On May 15, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the long-standing federal policy favoring arbitration agreements. In a lawsuit brought against skilled nursing provider Kindred Nursing Centers, LP, the Court held that states cannot single out arbitration clauses for “disfavored treatment,” because doing so violates the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The case involved two wrongful death lawsuits that were consolidated in the Kentucky Supreme Court ...
Later this year, the Supreme Court of the United States will address the enforceability of class action waivers in employment arbitration agreements in Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris ...
The 2017 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature saw several changes in laws relevant to employers. Changes of interest to employers include the West Virginia Safer Workplace Act, Second Chance for Employment Act, West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act, West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, striking employees and unemployment benefits, Physicians Freedom of Practice Act, and bonds for wages and benefits ...
