Insights on Consumer Products

On July 16, 2014, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) escalated Russian sanctions by issuing “Sectoral Sanctions” — prohibitions on certain finance related transactions with certain entities, including two major Russian banks and two oil and natural gas producers.

In Lawson, the Court held that employees of a mutual fund, traditionally outside the coverage of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), are nonetheless protected by its whistleblower provision.

On July 17, 2014, responding in part to the expiration of numerous tax incentives last December 31, the House of Representatives approved by a 277–130 vote a bill (H.R. 4719, The America Gives More Act) containing permanent extension of several tax incentives related to charitable deductions.

All good wealth management includes estate planning as a component. Changes in the tax laws, modern trust conventions and family changes make periodic reviews of estate plans a real necessity.

The crux of the issue the District Court considered was the interplay between sections 363(f) and 365(h) of the Bankruptcy Code.

The DC Circuit recently held that the attorney-client privilege applies to internal investigations, even when the investigations are mandated by law and are not conducted with the sole purpose of obtaining or providing legal advice.

On July 11, 2014, the FDA issued a new Draft Guidance (the Guidance) that will require drug companies to submit information on most drug samples that they distribute in the United States. The new Guidance is entitled “Reporting Drug Sample Information Under Section 6004 of the Affordable Care Act.”

Currently, the federal circuits are split over the level of deference that should be afforded to findings made by the USPTO’s Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (TTAB) on likelihood of confusion, with the circuit courts applying at least five different standards.

On June 25, 2014, in a unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court struck down the “presumption of prudence” afforded ERISA fiduciaries with respect to employer stock investments in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and defined contribution plans.

The US Supreme Court this morning granted cert in a closely watched False Claims Act (FCA) case, Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Carter — a case that raises important questions about wartime suspension of the FCA’s statute of limitations.

In a relatively narrow ruling that may have far greater practical ramifications than constitutional ones, a unanimous US Supreme Court on Thursday struck down President Obama’s 2012 recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board).

On June 19, 2014, in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. ___2014, a unanimous Supreme Court held that systems and methods of exchanging financial obligations, implemented in hardware or software, did not qualify for patent protection.

This term, the Supreme Court docket includes a number of cases that could dramatically impact the labor and employment law landscape.

Our value-driven approach to client service is what distinguishes our team of lawyers as one of the premier Communications, Mobile, and Technology practices in the country.

In a very close (4-3) decision, New York’s highest court recently reversed summary judgment in a property damage and business interruption case, finding that a broker could be liable because of a potential “special relationship” with the insured.

The US Department of Justice recently announced that Fokker Services BV (FSBV), a Dutch aerospace services provider, agreed to forfeit $10.5 million to the United States.

On June 12, the DOL, in conjunction with the White House, released its proposed rule that raises the minimum wage for workers on federal service and construction contracts to $10.10 per hour.

Our value-driven approach to client service is what distinguishes our team of lawyers as one of the premier Communications, Mobile, and Technology practices in the country.

The book provides an article-by-article analysis of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, as revised in 2010 by the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

The Buy America constraints of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) which, for the first time, imposed a domestic preference provision that required all iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in any project funded wholly or partially by the ARRA be produced in the U.S.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that two uses of a racially offensive slur, directed against an employee by another employee were not sufficiently severe or pervasive as to change the terms and conditions of employment and thereby constitute unlawful discrimination.

In a closely watched case, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has concluded that officers and employees of a foreign government-owned company may be “foreign officials” for purposes of the anti-bribery prohibitions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).