On July 24, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) voted to propose rule amendments aimed at simplifying certain financial disclosure requirements for guarantors, issuers and pledgors in registered debt offerings ...
I COMMERCIAL OVERVIEW OF THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY With Ireland having the European Union’s third-largest ocean area, the Irish government plans to double the state’s ocean wealth by 2030 and, in the interim, make Ireland an attractive location for international shipping activities. The changes brought about by Brexit may help to enhance Ireland’s position further in the maritime sphere ...
In past years, we have advised clients that as long as no unit in a multi-unit new condominium project is rented before its condominium map is recorded, later sales of units do not fall under the city's condominium conversion ordinance, which does not at this time allow conversion of buildings of more than two units ...
The European Court of Justice (CJEU) has ruled that Christian Louboutin’s famous red sole does not consist solely of ashape that significantly increases the value of aproduct, and therefore can be registered as atrademark. This is an important victory for the fashion designer in the long-running battle concerning red-soled shoes ...
A gap in legal provisions might mean criminal liability for management board members for not filing financial statements on time. Amendments enacted earlier this year to the National Court Register Act have already caused some confusion and alot of trouble for companies whose management boards solely comprise foreigners ...
California has enacted a sweeping tough new privacy law ...
Earlier this year, the European Court of Justice ("CJEU") has thrown out an appeal by Nestlé, which argued that it owns the shape of its famous treat KitKat. Nestlé, the world's largest food and beverage company, has spent more than a decade fighting to trademark the four-fingered wafer shape. However, EJC's most recent ruling could bring an end to the snack's protected European status ...
With the recent enactment of Bill 165, An Act to amend the Highway Safety Code and other provisions1, the driving of autonomous vehicles in Quebec is finally regulated, although a number of uncertainties remain. Indeed, the driving of autonomous vehicles of automation level 3, such as Tesla’s model X equipped with an improved guidance system, is now permitted in Quebec ...
After 16 public hearings over a five year period lasting through the tenure of three mayors, the largest San Francisco rezoning plan in ten years received a unanimous Planning Commission approval on May 10, 2018. On Monday of this week, the Land Use Committee of the Board of Supervisors had a first hearing to listen to testimony about plan ...
It has been announced that a new flagship court designed to tackle the legal issues of the future will open on Fleet Street, a short walk to our London offices. The new 18 court room legal centre providing world-class legal services focussing on cybercrime, fraud, economic crime, business and property crime and civil cases is expected to be completed in 2025 ...
The Israeli Parliament (the Knesset) recently approved (on July 18, 2018), an amendment to the Israeli Restrictive Trade Practices Law, 5748-1988 (the “Law“) regarding parallel importing (the Restrictive Trade Practices Law (Amendment 20 – Temporary Order), 5778-2018) (the “Amendment“) ...
What are some of the exciting developments we're seeing in transport? How can these be practically applied? We were delighted to host a Fast Track session as part of our sponsorship of Amplify, AMP’s innovation festival, where we explored how innovative high speed transportation systems will impact our future. But how can these new technologies be introduced into society? High speed transportation systems Long commutes could soon be history ...
On 1 December 2017, the Minister of Economic Development announced the release of the Competition Amendment Bill, 2017 (the “Competition Bill”) for public comment. Following the closure of the period for public comments in the first quarter of 2018, a revised Competition Bill (the “Revised Competition Bill”) was tabled before Parliament on 11 July 2018 ...
A new electronic registry system called Myanmar Companies Online (“MyCo”) is to be launched with the coming into force of the new Myanmar Companies Law 2017 (“MCL”) on the 1st of August. The Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (“DICA”) is introducing MyCo with the purpose of streamlining company filings and making the process more transparent ...
The fast-changing landscape of competition law in AfricaAt the turn of the century, only a handful of Africa’s 54 nation states had operational competition legislation and enforcement. However, in line with developments in the rest of the world, many African countries have since enacted competition legislation and established working competition authorities ...
2018 Summer Associate Taylor West contributed to this alert. On June 28, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) voted to require the use of Inline Extensible Business Reporting Language (“Inline XBRL”) for operating company financial statement information and mutual fund risk/return summary information.1The amendments to the current XBRL requirement are effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. View the final rule ...
The Communications Decency Act (CDA)—the law Congress enacted in 1996 and confirmed this past year to shield online publishers from responsibility for the speech of others—gives internet platforms the right to publish the ideas and opinions of third-party users without being held liable for that content or being forced to remove it.[1] In the closely watched case ofHassell v ...
The Namibian Industrial Property Act, 2012 will finally come into effect on 1 August 2018 and will have far-reaching implications for the protection, use and enforcement of trade mark and other intellectual property rights in Namibia. This Act provides for the registration and protection and administration of patents, utility model certificates, industrial designs, trade marks, collective marks, certification marks and trade names ...
The release of Brand Finance South Africa 50 2018, a report on South Africa’s top brands (many of which are advised by ENSafrica’s IP team), gives all of us involved in brands and branding a chance to consider the commercial importance of our field.The report was produced by the company Brand Finance and mentions that over the past year, the value of South African brands grew by an impressive 8% to ZAR426-billion ...
Imagine listing this as one of a company’s major assets:“A sweet, slightly musky, vanilla-like fragrance, with slight overtones of cherry, and the natural smell of a salted, wheat-based dough.” That’s something Hasbro can do, certainly now that the US Patent and Trademark Office has accepted the company’s trade mark application for the smell of its Play-Doh product ...
“Use it or lose it”. It’s one of the fundamental principles of trade mark law – if a trade mark registration is not used, it’s liable to be lost. The principle makes perfect sense considering that a trade mark registration is effectively a monopoly (albeit one with limitations) to a name, logo or other form of branding. Monopolies should not and are not granted lightly ...
The European Court of Justice ("ECJ") recently came with important clarifications regarding the implementation of mergers before merger clearance, so called "gun jumping." The topic often arises in merger cases where the parties have "signed the deal" but are awaiting clearance by the relevant competition authority. What can be done by the parties before closing post signing, and what cannot be done prior to implementation? The judgment in case C-633/16 Ernst & Young P/S v ...
Walking the tight rope between making strides for women’s rights and being too strident So, the Trump-Kim Summit has successfully concluded in Singapore, with the Leader of the Free World shaking hands with the Supreme Leader of one of its most coldblooded dictatorships. Looking at these two scions of privilege, it is hard not to be struck by how much they have in common, united not just by their comically bad hair, but also by their low regard for women ...
As rapid technological changes in the 21st century continue to expand the types and volume of private electronic information, the Fourth Amendment’s privacy protections are evolving. Originally, “Fourth Amendment jurisprudence was tied to common-law trespass” and provided protections against searches of property. See, United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400, 405 (2012) ...
