On Monday, for the first time in history, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments via teleconference and live-streamed the conference call to the public. And, if that was not exciting enough, to kick off a planned two-week session of tele-arguments, the Court chose a case whose subject is relatable to the general public – domain names ...
On June 15, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana (“Viking River Cruises”), holding that California employers can compel employees to arbitrate their individual claims under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). Plaintiff Moriana had signed an employment contract containing a mandatory agreement to arbitrate any dispute arising out of her employment with Viking ...
April 23, 2024 By: Alicia Guerra, John Epperson, and Braeden Mansouri On April 12, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important decision that may have major impacts on developers in California, although the degree of impact will depend on how lower courts interpret that decision. In Sheetz v ...
The Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on April 28, 2020 signed a Notice of Extended Waiver for certain deadlines associated with patent-related filings, if the missed deadline resulted from situations relating to COVID-19. Due dates between March 27 and May 31, 2020 are extended until June 1, 2020 ...
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) is seeking public comment on a proposed three-track patent examination initiative that would provide applicants with greater control over the speed at which their applications are examined. The proposed initiative aims to reduce overall pendency of patent applications by providing applicants with alternative timing systems for the examination of their patent applications ...
Today, the Ninth Circuit upheld California’s new law (AB 51) barring arbitration provisions in employment contracts.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations challenged the law in federal court. The district court enjoined the law, ruling that it conflicts with the Federal Arbitration Act. A divided Ninth Circuit panel reversed. Judge Lucero, a Tenth Circuit judge sitting by designation, wrote the majority opinion (joined by Judge Fletcher). Judge Ikuta dissented ...
August 21, 2023 By: Akana K. Ma On August 14, 2023, pursuant to a Presidential executive order issued several days earlier, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposed Rulemaking) announcing a ban on investment by U.S. persons, including U.S.-registered business entities, in three advanced technology sectors in China – quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors ...
On January 1, 2024, regulations implementing the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) became effective, triggering new reporting obligations for many entities conducting business within the United States ...
The U.S. Department of State has released details on a proposed pilot program testing the agency’s ability to resume domestic visa renewals for certain nonimmigrant visa categories and to study the effect the program has on reducing visa wait times worldwide. The program will begin on January 29, 2024 and end on April 1, 2024 ...
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Finds that Student Who Was Abused Multiple Times by Fellow Students Was Entitled to Multiple Per-Claim Limits Because Each Assault Was a Separate “Claim”.In Essex Insurance Co. v. Doe, No. 06-7163, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 94 (D.C. Cir. Jan ...
The U.S. Copyright Office has issued a final regulation (37 CFR §202.4) permitting a single, “group” registration for “Short Online Literary Works.” To be eligible, each of the works included in the registration “must be published as part of a website or online platform, including online newspapers, social media websites, and social networking platforms ...
On March 8, 2013, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released a new version of Form I-9 with a revision date of 03/08/2013. Employers are required to use the new Form I-9 no later than May 7, 2013, for all new hires and rehires, as well as to re-verify an employee’s identity and continued employment eligibility. Employers are not required to replace prior I-9 forms that were used before May 7, 2013 ...
Like every other higher education leader, I spent most of the last 10 months reacting to the operational imperatives driven by the COVID-19 crisis. Each day presented a novel crisis, and just when we thought we’d see no more plot twists, a new one emerged. In the midst of that maelstrom and as the state’s higher education chief, I often found myself trying to find elusive time to process what these daily crises meant for our enterprise over the long term ...
There have been two recent developments regarding the False Claims Act (FCA) which will impact health care organizations that could be subject to a whistleblower lawsuit or FCA investigation. First, on May 7, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued formal guidance regarding the manner in which the DOJ would award credits to defendants that cooperate with the DOJ during an FCA investigation (the Policy) ...
As the new year started, two Department of Justice memoranda began circulating that may bring a change in the way the United States focuses its efforts in the FCA arena. The first, entitled, “Factors for Evaluating Dismissal Pursuant to 31 U.S.C ...
Analysis: United States ex rel. Druding v. Care Alternatives, Inc. (3rd Circuit) • Winter ex rel. United States v. Gardens Reg’l Hosp. & Med. Ctr., Inc. (9th Circuit) In recent decisions this month, the Third and Ninth Circuits reversed defense victories predicated on the “objective falsity” standard under the False Claims Act (FCA). See United States ex rel. Druding v. Care Alternatives, Inc., No. 18-3298, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 6795 (3d Cir. Mar ...
Advocate General Sharpston has recently expressed her opinion in the Commission v Republic of Finland case that ensuring a sufficient degree of transparency for the award of sub-threshold procurements should be determined by national law, rather than Community law. If these views were to be followed by the ECJ, it would provide renewed impetus to create national rules on low value awards and represent a meaningful evolution of the ECJ's past case law ...
On June 17, the Supreme Court declined to overturn the Dual Sovereign Doctrine, maintaining individuals may be prosecuted under both federal and state law for the same criminal conduct. The Court’s decision was a loss for Petitioner Terance Martez Gamble, who had been prosecuted twice for illegal possession of a firearm, first in state court and then in federal court. In 2008, Gamble pleaded guilty to felony robbery in the state of Alabama ...
Design of the Models Taiwan law provides for two models for private parties to participate in governmental infrastructure projects. One is the model under the Government Procurement Act (“GPA Model”) and the other is the Public-Private Partnerships Law (“PPP Model”). The most significant difference between the two models lies in the funding entity ...
A decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in 2011 appeared to limit the options for large television companies seeking to prevent unlicensed viewing. It was held in that case, involving the Football Association Premier League Ltd, that the use of foreign decoders to broadcast Sky television in public places could not be prevented because of EU competition rules ...
Deciding what happens to employees in a TUPE transfer where there is more than one transferee is never straightforward. However, developments in this area continue to add complexity to the situation, adding cost and uncertainty to employers. Recent developments In the recent case of McTear Contracts Ltd v Bennett & ors the EAT looked at a situation where there were two transferees in the context of a service provision change ...
Australia's Federal Court finds in favour of Nine newspapers against Ben Roberts-Smith. The judgement is a win for investigative journalism and the public’s right to know. Defence was lead by Peter Bartlett, MinterEllison. Nine newspapers’ victory in the Ben Roberts Smith vs Nine defamation case strengthens a core principle of journalism, and key tenant of democracy, which is the public’s right to know ...
