In recent years, company director David Topkins was prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice for conspiring with third-party sellers to fix the prices of posters, prints and framed art on Amazon Marketplace. Amazon Marketplace is an online e-commerce marketplace for third-party sellers, where the sellers control all pricing and shipping decisions on products sold ...
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, No. 16-341 (May 22, 2017) unanimously overruled a longstanding Federal Circuit decision that allowed patent infringement suits to be filed nearly anywhere, even in venues where accused infringers sold no more than a few allegedly infringing products ...
On May 4, 2017, the en banc Federal Circuit heard oral arguments in Wi-Fi One, LLC v. Broadcom Corp., Appeal 2015-1944 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 16, 2016) to consider whether the findings of the Patent Trial & Appeals Board (“PTAB”) regarding 35 U.S.C. § 315(b), which governs the timeliness of filing a petition for inter partes review (“IPR”), are subject to judicial review on appeal ...
Disruption. Possibly the most overused word in today's global lexicon, it refers to the upheaval that is created when a new business (these days, usually founded by a smart alec entrepreneur) uproots an established method of delivering a product or service. Think Spotify, a music-streaming business that has sounded the death knell of CDs. It has, as its most vocal opponent, pop star Taylor Swift, who felt that it did not adequately value her art ...
EnerDry holds numerous patents based on inventions by its founder and CEO Arne Sloth Jensen, including European Patent EP 1 070 223 B1. This patent relates to steam dryers with a specific type of cyclone, which substantially improves the capacity and efficiency of steam dryers ...
On Wednesday, April 26, 2017, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Sandoz Inc. v. Amgen Inc. et al., a landmark case that many hope will provide clarity and guidance for consumers and the pharmaceutical industry on the regulatory approval pathway for biosimilar drugs under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (“BPCIA” or “Biosimilars Act”) ...
Dispute is heating up over IRS’s attempts to get personal information about users of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. Last November, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) filed a petition in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. It sought the court’s permission to serve a “John Doe” summons on Coinbase, Inc., a virtual currency exchanger in San Francisco ...
Cybersecurity is one of the most critical challenges facing our nation and our economy. U.S. regulators on both the state and federal level are working to keep pace with the challenges and risks posed by cybercrime. On March 1, 2017, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued a new cybersecurity regulation designed to protect financial institutions, their information technology systems, and their customers from cybercrime1 ...
Can computers learn and reason? If so, what are the limitations of the tasks that they can be given? These questions have been the subject of countless debate as far back as 1937, when Alan Turing published his work on computable numbers1. Many researchers have devoted themselves to developing methods that would allow computers to interact more easily with human beings and integrate processes used to learn from the situations encountered ...
In addition to registering their trade marks with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (“CIPC”), brand owners should ensure that their trade marks are protected online. One way of doing this is by registering a domain name. What is a Domain Name?A domain name allows a party to establish its identity on the internet. It assists internet users to easily identify brand owners on the internet and to access their sites on the web ...
Upon reconsideration in Gerard v. Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, Case No. G048039 (March 21, 2017) (Gerard II), the Fourth Appellate District decided that IWC Wage Order 5 is valid and that healthcare employees may waive one of their two required meal periods on shifts longer than 8 hours ...
As of March 14, 2017, the recently enacted Consumer Review Fairness Act (the “Act”)1 will prohibit “gag clauses” – contract provisions that prohibit or restrict a consumer's ability to write negative reviews of products and services. While enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and state attorneys general is set to begin on December 14, 2017, businesses should act now to ensure compliance ...
The Treasury Department has announced further extensions for medium-sized and large-sized employers for compliance with the “employer mandate” of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The employer mandate requires employers with a threshold level of employees to provide affordable health insurance to 95% of their full-time employees. Under the ACA, a full-time employee is defined as any employee who works on average 30 or more hours per week ...
The September 23, 2013 deadline for covered entities, business associates and their subcontractors to implement the new HIPAA rules is approaching quickly. In case you missed it, on January 25, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued an omnibus final rule modifying the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ...
It is undeniable that technology and globalization are changing the way lawyers practice law. Technology has not just made people, places, and things much more accessible to us – it has impacted the way we store information and documents, the way we communicate with and advise clients, how we conduct investigations, and how we participate in discovery ...
by Eric E. Kinder President Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act into law. The ADAAA significantly increases the scope of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as it has been interpreted by federal courts by overturning several United States Supreme Court decisions regarding the Act. According to the Congressional Committees that oversaw the passage of the ADAAA, these amendments will restore the original Congressional intent behind the ADA ...
Dispute is heating up over IRS’s attempts to get personal information about users of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. Last November, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) filed a petition in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. It sought the court’s permission to serve a “John Doe” summons on Coinbase, Inc., a virtual currency exchanger in San Francisco ...
Few areas of law have proven more dynamic over the last few years than the interplay between state tort laws and the federal regulation of pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices. During its last two terms, the United States Supreme Court has issued three separate opinions addressing federal preemption of state law claims under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ...
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA") has significantly changed the healthcare industry in the United States. Among the many changes is the new requirement that healthcare providers must provide all "Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education counseling for all women with reproductive capacity."77 Fed. Reg. 8725 (Feb. 15, 2012); see 42 U.S.C. 300gg-13(a)(4), 45 C.F.R. § 147.130(a)(1)(iv) ...
View the February 2017 Health Law Vitals Newsletter PDF. Final Guidance Sheds Light on Medical Device Reporting Requirements In November 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a final guidance on medical device reporting for manufacturers ("Final MDR Guidance") ...
Just weeks into the new Administration, perhaps the only certain thing is that there will be uncertainty as the Administration makes its mark and works to fulfill campaign promises. Meanwhile, restaurant chains and food companies are trying to allocate resources to best address business priorities and hot legal issues ...
Summary Amendments to Japan’s Act on Protection of Personal Information (“APPI”) (“Amendments”) were passed by the Diet on 3rd September 2015; some provisions, mainly those establishing and governing the Personal Information Protection Commission (“Commission”), are in force, and it has now been announced that the remaining provisions will be implemented on 30th May 2017 (“Implementation Date”), though regulations and guidelines setting out
The current EU regulations for medical devices and in vitro diagnostics are from the 1990s. The rapid technical developments in the health care system in recent years as well as the increased cross-border trade urgently require a modernization of the current legal framework. Now the adoption of new EU legislation is imminent. This article provides a brief overview of the planned content and the likely entry into force of the Regulations ...
As the American press focuses on the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act, the wheels have been set in motion to implement new health care legislation that enjoys strong bipartisan support. The 21st Century Cures Act (the “Act”), signed by President Obama on December 13, addresses a broad range of health care priorities, including drug innovation, biomedical research, and mental health reform ...
Under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), large employers (generally those with 50 or more full-time employees or full-time equivalents) must report annually to the IRS information about the health coverage offered to their full-time employees during the prior year. Employers also must provide copies of the reports to their full-time employees ...
