Alerts

The increase in activism in the last year has led to questions from employers about what their rights are when employees are absent from work to attend protests or engage in other political activities.

This week, Sonny Perdue became the penultimate nominee for President Trump’s cabinet to be confirmed by the Senate.

As in previous years, 2016 brought us a combination of both expected and unexpected holdings by the Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit.

An independent Working Group led by three international law specialists from Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United States has recently proposed drafting a specialized set of arbitration rules to resolve alleged human rights abuses by businesses.

In February, presidential advisor Steve Bannon stated that a primary goal of the Trump administration was the “deconstruction of the administrative state.”

On March 31, 2017 President Trump signed two Executive Orders aimed at fulfilling his campaign promises on “fair trade.”

The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, permits hospitals and other health care providers to disclose medical information without the patient’s consent for the purposes of reviewing the competence or qualifications of health care professionals or health care services.

A recent string of advertising and privacy crackdowns on mobile health apps should have developers on high alert as regulators are scrutinizing advertising statements and privacy policies.

In reaching his decision, Judge Gross employed a “forward-thinking” analysis based on the facts existing at the time the trustee acted.

A recent decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirms that policyholders have leverage to convince excess insurance carriers that they should contribute towards potentially covered settlements.

Arent Fox LLP Senior Policy Analyst Sen. Byron Dorgan and IP Partner Pamela Deese were featured guests on a March 12 episode of “What’s Working in Washington,” a weekly podcast focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, and policy.

A recent decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Beck v. McDonald, 848 F.3d 262 (4th Cir. 2017), adds to the list of circuit courts of appeal that have held that that the mere threat of future harm resulting from a data breach, without more, is insufficient to satisfy the injury-in-fact

In a non-precedential ruling, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB or Board) held that the mark 100 PERCENT WINE for wine is likely to be confused with CENTO PER CENTO for wine in light of a likelihood of confusion analysis which included applying the doctrine of foreign equivalents.

On March 1, 2017, new changes to the International Chamber of Commerce Rules of Arbitration will take effect that are designed to make the process more transparent, efficient, and cost-effective—especially with regard to disputes of less than USD $2 million. 

Responding to requests from the cannabis industry, ASTM International, one of the world’s largest voluntary standards-developing organizations, recently announced plans to develop industry standards that would apply to “the full life cycle of cannabis” and consumable cannabis products.

On February 16, 2017, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the Fair Credit in Employment Amendment Act of 2016, which amends the DC Human Rights Act of 1977 to prohibit employers from discriminating against employees and applicants based on their credit information.

The Food and Drug Administration has just announced that it will hold a Public Meeting on March 9, 2017 to discuss use of the term “healthy” in the labeling of human food products.

The CRFA (2016) voids a contract if it prohibits or restricts an individual from reviewing a seller’s goods, services, or conduct.

The White House issued an executive order on January 30, 2017 requiring agencies and executive departments to “identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed” whenever they propose or promulgate a new regulation.

At a Silicon Valley IP symposium held at the Santa Clara University School of Law on Friday, February 3, presentations by in-house counsel and prosecutors highlighted the critical importance of trade secrets to technology companies.

An Austrian hotel was a recent victim of a “ransomware” computer attack that disabled its electronic room key system and locked up its own computers. This demonstrates that hotel owners and managers should be sure IT agreements adequately address the risks of cyberattacks.

On January 31, 2017, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board released an official memorandum declaring that scholarship football players at some of the most elite college programs are employees under the National Labor Relations Act.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced a proposed settlement and consent order in its investigation of a US-based water filtration company.

Earlier this month, FDA finalized Guidance for Industry, Assessment of Abuse Potential of Drugs. This guidance is intended to assist researchers and sponsors of new drugs that may have central nervous system (CNS) activity evaluate whether the drug has abuse potential.