The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been one of the most sweeping, and most divisive, pieces of legislation related to healthcare in a generation. More ink has been spilled over enactment, constitutionality, and repeal than any other government healthcare program. With the election of Donald Trump, and a Republican-controlled Congress, the repeal of the ACA is all but assured ...
The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation on December 13, 2016 to provide developers of market rate projects with 24 or fewer dwellings with the option of contributing the required fees for off-site affordable housing (under the Inclusionary Housing Program) to a Small Sites Fund administered by the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development ("MOHCD") ...
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 ...
Near the tail-end of 2016, the Serbian Competition Commission initiated an investigation for an alleged competition infringement that took place in June of the same year. The infringement involved a failure to notify a merger for mandatory clearance. The transaction in question concerned an unreported acquisition of sole control on the IT market ...
The December/January issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article entitled “Philippines: Competition Law Updates”. The article was contributed by SyCipLaw partners Franco Aristotle G. Larcina and Arlene M. Maneja. The article discussed the new merger form issued by the Philippine Competition Commission on August 31, 2016. Read the article online at the IFLR website ...
The underlying technology behind the digital currency, Bitcoin, is piquing interest across Nashville’s healthcare industry, largely due to its potential to change the way data is shared. Blockchain, or distributed ledger technology, is a decentralized database that securely records transactions and can also allow for the transfer of an asset such as data or currency.https://nashvillemedicalnews ...
On January 1, 2017, most public works projects in California will be subject to new procedural requirements applicable to claims from contractors ...
The Serbian Parliament has recently adopted amendments to the Criminal Code. The amendments include a significant overhaul of the legal framework for white collar crimes, touching upon the rules relevant for antitrust enforcement as well. While the Serbian Criminal Code previously penalized antitrust infringements spearheaded by the responsible managers, the relevant provision was relatively vague and targeted chiefly dominance abuse ...
Karanovic & Nikolic provided complete legal support to Affidea, a largest European medical service provider with respect to opening the first foreign hospital located in Belgrade. Our services consisted of extensive regulatory and corporate advice related to formation and start of operations of Affidea&s first hospital in Serbia. Affidea is one of the largest healthcare investors and operates over 180 Diagnostic and Cancer Treatment Centers in 15 countries across Europe ...
After a remarkable year in both merger control and antitrust, the Serbian Competition Commission (the "Commission") is already starting to look ahead. The announcements made on the Commission's website during November and December of this year suggest that the Commission's focus in the year ahead will be directed at several industries in particular. Firstly, the Commission published on its website the Report on the Sectorial Analysis of Aftermarkets ...
The Public-Private Partnership delivery model (?PPP? or ?P3?) is now well established in Canada, where more than 177 of such projects were closed between 1993 and 2015 (source: InfraAmericas). The great majority thereof (166) have been closed since 2004, and the current trend indicates the number of projects is on the rise ...
Creation of a Canadian infrastructure bank On October 20, 2016, the Advisory Council on Economic Growth published its report entitled "Unleashing Productivity Through Infrastructure". One of the report's recommendations is to create a Canadian Infrastructure Development Bank whose objective would be to deliver projects with an aggregate value of more than $200 billion over 10 years, while at the same time minimizing the use of government budgets ...
A federal appeals court has rejected two challenges to the environmental review of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro's) planned subway expansion in Downtown Los Angeles. The "Regional Connector" project, approved in 2012, will create a three-station, underground link through Downtown that will allow passengers to travel from points on the Metro Gold Line to the Blue and Expo lines without having to transfer trains ...
The world stands at the threshold of a new age. Self-driving cars have hit the streets and created the knock-on collision of technology and the law. Autonomous transportation presents a network of complex problems that have to be addressed before we can safely strap ourselves into a vehicle without a driver. August 2016 saw the implementation of the world’s first self-driving taxis in Singapore ...
The October issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article entitled “Mining Developments”. The article was contributed by SyCipLaw partner Aaron Roi B. Riturban ...
To the untrained eye, technology and the judiciary sector may seem rather far apart. IT is ever changing and dynamic, while courts are by design deliberate and slow. However, even the most resistant institutions are not immune to change; Serbian courts now appear to be further steps towards incorporating new technology for the ultimate goal of greater efficiency ...
Yesterday Moscow court of appeal approved the decision of the court of the 1st instance referring to restricting access to LinkedIn website. The main reason for this decision was the fact that LinkedIn did not transfer the databases processing Russian nationals’ personal data in Russia. The Russian Localization Law which is in force as of September 1, 2015, requires that certain types of processing of Russian nationals personal data are performed in the databases located in Russia ...
The October 2016 issue of the Asian Legal Business (ALB) includes a regional update article entitled “New Implementing Rules for Philippine Data Privacy Act”, contributed by SyCipLaw partner Rose Marie M. King-Dominguez. The article enumerated and discussed the implementing rules and regulations of the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012. It is located on page 11. Read the full ALB October 2016 issue on the ALB website ...
Whether you are a garage tinkerer or an engineer at a technology company, you probably have considered obtaining a patent to protect one of your ideas or innovations. There is an allure to a government issued document declaring that you are the inventor of a patent that grants you exclusive right to your innovation. However, the next time that light bulb goes off above your head, here are five things you should consider before calling your patent lawyer. 1 ...
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has published its first major update to the rules for trademark trials and appeals in nearly a decade. The final changes to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) Rules of Practice appear in the October 7, 2016 Federal Register (81 Fed. Reg. 69950) and are scheduled to go into effect on January 14, 2017 ...
Recent media reports have informed us that the European Commission has issued an official charge sheet accusing Google of an abuse of dominance concerning its Android mobile operating system and contracts with smartphone producers and telecom operators. The European Commission considers Google dominant in the markets for general internet search services, licensable smart mobile operating systems and app stores for the Android mobile operating system ...
The July/August issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article entitled “Promoting Foreign Investment”. The article was contributed by SyCipLaw partner Carina C. Laforteza and associate Lito Paolo T. Martin II. The article discussed the enactment of Republic Act No. 10881, which was set to make the Philippine sa more attractive destination for foreign investors in the financing industry ...
Bayer AG, a German chemical company, and Monsanto Co., an American agrochemical corporation recently announced they have signed a definitive merger agreement under which Bayer plans to acquire Monsanto to create “a Global Leader in Agriculture ...
