On March 15, 2020, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced its offices will be closed to the public until further notice, "out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of the public and USPTO employees." The closure began Monday, March 16, 2020 until further notice. Offices remain open for employees, contractors, and those with access badges. Unless otherwise notified, USPTO operations will continue without interruption ...
At Spilman, we are often asked to review the "colder" legal aspects of human events of all types. The COVID-19 pandemic will be no different. To get a jump start on some of the questions we have faced or will face, we offer some thoughts on the contractual implications of COVID-19. Over the past week, Americans have witnessed countless unprecedented responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NBA postponed its season. The NHL soon followed ...
Restrictions related to COVID-19 have created immediate impacts for businesses of all sizes. Regardless if your industry has been directly affected by government mandates to work from home or restrict travel, it seems that no company can operate under a "business as usual" mindset over the near future ...
As part of Spilman’s COVID-19 Task Force, we wanted to answer the pressing questions of many employers during this growing pandemic. Employers should consider implementing strategies and policy changes to reduce the risk of infection in the workplace while still complying with their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is a developing topic, with many states imposing quarantines and Congress taking up the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ...
Congress appears to have reached an agreement on legislation to provide paid family and medical leave in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the bill still must be signed into law by the President. In the interim, Pittsburgh employers should take note that the City of Pittsburgh has passed legislation that already requires most employers operating in the City to provide for the accrual of minimum amounts of sick leave effective March 15, 2020 ...
As part of Spilman's and our COVID-19 Task Force's continuing effort to partner with you during this public health emergency, we’ve been monitoring Congress’ work on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ("Act"). This now has passed both houses and all indications are that it will be effective within weeks. Even in its short history, the bill has seen some significant changes. This is the final form ...
In accordance with the CDC’s guidance on social distancing, more and more companies are increasing the number of employees working from home. As the number of employees working from home increases, so do the related cyber risks. Sophisticated hackers have developed a game plan for exploiting weaknesses unique to the remote workforce employment model ...
UPDATE - On March 20 in the evening, Governor Wolf issued a revised list classifying businesses as life-sustaining and non-life-sustaining. The press release, list and frequently asked questions can be found here. In addition, Governor Wolf has extended the timeframe for enforcement of the order. The Pennsylvania General Assembly recently completed the Appropriations hearings related to the FY 2020-2021 budget. The plans to resume the legislative session were altered due to COVID-19 ...
On March 18, 2020, Governor Jim Justice suspended the rule prohibiting bars and restaurants from providing beer and wine for off-premises consumption. Restaurants and bars with Class A licenses are now permitted to sell sealed bottles or cans of beer in their original containers and bottles of wine to-go so long as they are accompanied by food orders. The rule does not authorize the sale of beer growlers unless the individual possesses a beer growler license ...
We realize employers continue to have pressing questions during this growing COVID-19 pandemic. Our COVID-19 Task Force is ready to assist with those questions and will continue providing updates in hopes of answering some of the more pressing questions you are likely to encounter as we move forward in this unprecedented situation ...
1) Publish, circulate, and implement the latest CDC, local health department, and OSHA pronouncements on maintaining a healthy worksite and make sure you are stocked on essential product (soaps and sanitizers). 2) If you plan on allowing essential vendors and other visitors to continue coming onto your property, implement a visitor policy that: Requires visitors to acknowledge they have not come into contact with anyone at risk ...
Pennsylvania began enforcing Governor Tom Wolf’s order closing non-essential businesses at 8:00 a.m. today, March 23, 2020. Enforcement will be conducted by a number of state and local agencies, including the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, and State Police ...
As we all know by now, much of our day-to-day lives have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are being told by everyone everywhere - the CDC, the President, governors, mayors, public health officials - we need to flatten the curve of the virus' natural exponential spread by practicing social distancing and aggressive hand washing ...
This afternoon, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced a Stay-At-Home Order that will affect all West Virginians. Once the Order takes effect at 8:00 p.m ...
The IRS has issued the several news releases in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: IRS Notice 2020-18 Tax Day now July 15. Treasury, IRS extend filing deadline and federal tax payments regardless of amount. The Treasury Department and IRS announced the federal income tax filing due date (for individual, trusts, estates, partnerships, corporations, and associations) is automatically extended from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020 ...
No one can predict all the effects of the pandemic on the borrower/lender relationship, but some of those effects will be severe. Both parties place a high value on predictability in their dealings. A borrower must know that when it needs funds, the line of credit will be available, while a financial institution needs to have payments made and covenants met as provided in the financing documents. Its long term survival depends on it ...
In further response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia entered an order late Sunday night that declares a statewide judicial emergency applying to all lower courts in all 55 counties. As a result of the declaration, all non-emergency proceedings, including jury trials, are stayed through April 10, 2020. All deadlines and statutes of limitation that were set to expire between March 23 and April 10 are similarly tolled until April 11, 2020 ...
It didn't take long. There are already 11 trademark applications pending in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for marks including the word "CORONAVIRUS". The first of these applications was filed on February 4, 2020, (CORONAVIRUS SURVIVAL GUIDE) and most recently on March 13, 2020 (I SURVIVED THE CORONAVIRUS/ COVID-19 OF 2020!). Certainly there will be more to follow ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit small businesses particularly hard. And, the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program can offer many of those small businesses a lifeline. But, it can be daunting to know what relief is available (and for what purpose), who qualifies, and how to apply. This is what you need to know. The SBA has two types of disaster loan programs—one through banks and one directly from the SBA via the U.S. Treasury ...
In this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many questions about insurance coverage. Because each policy is different, it is very difficult to generalize about insurance coverage. However, one thing we know to be true is that policyholders or insureds will be advocating for losses, primarily business losses, to be covered, while the insurance companies will be arguing the insurance policies preclude coverage either due to policy definitions or due to policy exclusions ...
As of Monday, March 23, Virginia Governor Northam announced all public K-12 schools will remain closed through the end of the school year and many – but not all – non-essential businesses will be required to close their doors. By the end of Tuesday (11:59 p.m. on March 24) some non-essential services, including all recreation and entertainment services, are to close ...
North Carolina The Executive Order prohibits mass gatherings that bring together more than 50 persons in a single room or single space (including any indoor or outdoor space) at the same time. However, the prohibition against mass gatherings does not include airports, bus and train stations, medical facilities, shopping malls and centers, office environments, factories, grocery stores, and child care facilities ...
A trend is emerging with recently filed litigation involving the COVID-19 pandemic. Spilman attorneys are committed to providing information that allows businesses to react as quickly as possible to avert civil litigation threats or to protect your interests through litigation. Monitoring these litigation trends will allow organizations to prepare to defend against such threats in the future or to identify and pursue civil remedies when needed ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit small businesses particularly hard. And, the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program can offer many of those small businesses a lifeline. But, it can be daunting to know what relief is available (and for what purpose), who qualifies, and how to apply. This is what you need to know. The SBA has two types of disaster loan programs—one through banks and one directly from the SBA via the U.S. Treasury ...
A trend is emerging with recently filed litigation involving the COVID-19 pandemic. Spilman attorneys are committed to providing information that allows businesses to react as quickly as possible to avert civil litigation threats or to protect your interests through litigation. Monitoring these litigation trends will allow organizations to prepare to defend against such threats in the future or to identify and pursue civil remedies when needed ...
