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Commentary: Dream Games: Illegal Use of Copyrighted Work Does Not Preclude Damages for Infringement

2009-06-30T17:33:01+00:00

Copyright Law - Expert Legal Commentary || By Olivier A. Taillieu and Jeffrey J. Zuber || In a case of first impression, the 9th Circuit held that illegal use or operation of a copyrighted work by the copyright owner does not preclude an award of statutory or actual damages for infringement. In Dream Games of Arizona, Inc. v. PC Onsite, 561 F.3d 983 (9th Cir. 2009),…

Hawaii State Tax Bill on Internet-Based Merchants Passes Senate, Is Transmitted to the Governor for Approval

2009-06-29T17:31:19+00:00

Tax Law - New Proposed Legislation || A Bill for An Act Relating to the General Excise Tax || Hawaii is the latest state to try securing tax revenues from online sales.

Hike in District Sales and Use Tax Rates in California to Take Effect on July 1, 2009

2009-06-29T17:22:53+00:00

Tax Law - New Statutes, Regulations, and Rulings || Increase in Sales and Use Tax Rates in California Effective July 1, 2009 || The California State Board of Equalization (“BOE”) has issued a release stating that a number of voter-approved sales and use tax increases – designed to provide revenue for local purposes – will take effect July 1, 2009.

ALERT Act Provides Protections to Workers in Case of Mass Lay-Offs

2009-06-29T16:26:14+00:00

Employment Law - New Proposed Legislation || Alert Laid off Employees in Reasonable Time (ALERT) Act || U.S. Representative Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) has announced new legislation to strengthen protections for laid-off workers.

Commentary: In re Spirits Int’l: A Mark Is Geographically Deceptively Misdescriptive Only if Materially Deceptive to a Substantial Portion of the Intended Audience

2009-06-26T19:38:25+00:00

Trademark Law - Expert Legal Commentary || By Thomas F. Zuber and Laura D. Castner || Clarifying the application of the doctrine of foreign equivalents, the Federal Circuit held that a mark is geographically deceptively misdescriptive if a substantial portion of the relevant consumer market is likely to be deceived by the mark. In In re Spirits International, 563 F.3d 1347 (Fed. Cir. 2009), the Federal…

House Labor Committee Approves Bill to Expose Hidden 401(k) Fees

2009-06-26T18:44:23+00:00

Employment Law - New Proposed Legislation || 401(k) Fair Disclosure for Retirement Security Act || The House Committee on Education and Labor has approved by a vote of 29 to 17 the 401(k) Fair Disclosure and Pension Security Act (H.R. 2989), which would help workers shop around for the best retirement investment options by providing information on how much in fees is taken from their…

Sen. Nelson’s Bill Benefits Generic-Drug Makers By Expanding ANDA First-Filer 180-Day Exclusivity

2009-06-25T17:45:13+00:00

Patent Law - New Proposed Legislation || Drug Price Competition Act of 2009 || Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fl., has filed a proposed legislation to amend Hatch-Waxman Act's definition of “first applicant” for abbreviated new drug application (“ANDA”) filers to give generic-drug makers challenging brand-name patents an opportunity at receiving 180-day market exclusivity.

Rep. Rush Re-Files Bill Prohibiting Reverse Payments in Patent Suits

2009-06-25T17:37:25+00:00

Patent Law - New Proposed Legislation || Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2009 || Rep. Bobby L. Rush, D-Il., has re-introduced on the congressional floor a bill intended to eliminate perceived anticompetitive settlements of patent infringement litigation between generic and brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers.

California State Assembly to Tax Sales of Out-of-State Internet Companies, But Amazon.com Threatens to Leave California

2009-06-24T23:16:37+00:00

Tax Law - New Proposed Legislation || Assembly Bill 178 || California Assembly Bill 178 (“AB 178”) seeks to provide a level playing field to ensure that California businesses, both brick and mortar and e-commerce, do not face an unfair competitive disadvantage against out-of-state internet retailers.

Sen. Durbin Proposes Supermajority Vote of Shareholders to Curb Excessive Pay in Publicly Traded Corp.

2009-06-22T22:51:19+00:00

Securities Law - New Proposed Legislation || Excessive Pay Shareholder Approval Act || Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Il) has filed the Excessive Pay Shareholder Approval Act on May 7, 2009, seeking to curb excessive pay to employees of publicly-traded companies.

House Passes, Pres. Obama Signs into Law Anti-Financial Fraud Act

2009-06-22T22:43:58+00:00

Securities Law - New Statutes, Regulations and Rules || Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act || On May 18th, 2009, the House of Representatives passed the final Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (S. 386) by a vote of 338-52, which was signed into law by the President on May 20th.

SEC Amends Rules Granting Additional Authority to the OGC in the Conduct of Investigations

2009-06-22T22:38:38+00:00

Securities Law - New Statutes, Regulations and Rules || Delegation of Authority to the General Counsel || The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has amended its rules to delegate to the General Counsel its authority to designate officers in authorized investigations conducted by the Office of General Counsel (“OGC”).

CO Governor Signs Bill Penalizing Employers for Misclassifying Employees as Independent Contractors

2009-06-22T22:28:23+00:00

Employment Law - New Statutes, Regulations, and Rules || An Act Concerning the Misclassification of Employees as Independent Contractors || Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has signed a bill that penalizes employers that misclassify employees as independent contractors in order to avoid the payment benefits and employment taxes.

Commentary: Webb v. City of Philadelphia: No Religious Discrimination If Accommodation Causes an Undue Burden

2009-06-22T17:18:53+00:00

Employment Law - Expert Legal Commentary || By Jeremy J. Gray || The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld the Philadelphia Police Department’s dress code policy that forbids police officers from wearing any religious garb. When the city prohibited a female officer from wearing a Muslim head scarf with her uniform, she sued the city, alleging religious discrimination, retaliation/ hostile…

New Employment Legislation Targets Union “Salting”

2009-06-18T21:04:14+00:00

Employment Law - New Proposed Legislation || Truth in Employment Act of 2009 || U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, has introduced the Truth In Employment Act of 2009.

Commentary: In re Kubin: Extending “Obvious to Try” to cDNA Sequence Patents

2009-06-17T17:38:57+00:00

Patent Law - Expert Legal Commentary || By Yuri Mikulka and Spyros J. Lazaris || The Federal Circuit court applied the “obvious to try” test from KSR International v. Teleflex Inc. to biotechnology patent applications, and essentially eviscerated the obviousness standard once applied to biotech patents by the Federal Circuit in In re Deuel. While the decision in In re Kubin, 561 F.3d 1351 (Fed.…

Veterans Employment Rights Realignment Act Gets House Approval

2009-06-15T21:11:51+00:00

Employment Law - New Proposed Legislation || Veterans Employment Rights Realignment Act of 2009 || The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Veterans Employment Rights Realignment Act of 2009, H.R. 1089, a legislation that authorizes the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (“OSC”) to enforce the re-employment rights of veterans or current members of the military working in the federal sector.

House Solons Approve Bill Granting Paid Parental Leave for Federal Employees

2009-06-15T18:19:33+00:00

Employment Law - New Proposed Legislation || Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act || Legislation that would provide federal employees with four weeks of paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child passed the U.S. House of Representatives on June 4, 2009 by a margin of 258-154.

Bipartisan Solons Reintroduce Healthy Workforce Act

2009-06-15T18:12:13+00:00

Employment Law - New Proposed Legislation || Healthy Workforce Act || In an effort to make wellness and prevention a part of the national discussion on health care reform, U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and John Cornyn (R-TX) and U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) today reintroduced legislation which aims to fight the growing prevalence of chronic…

Commentary: Ramsey Winch v. Henry: Upholding Oklahoma’s Forced Entry Law

2009-06-11T21:46:01+00:00

Employment Law - Expert Legal Commentary || By Jeremy J. Gray || The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overruled a federal district court decision and upheld state laws that make it illegal for employers to prohibit employees from keeping firearms locked in their vehicles in the company parking lot. In Ramsey Winch Inc. v. Henry, 555 F.3d 1199 (10th Cir. 2009)a…

AZ Sen. Kyl Files Own Version of Patent Reform Bill

2009-06-8T20:46:00+00:00

Patent Law - New Proposed Legislation || Patent Reform Act of 2009 || U.S. Senator Jon Kyl (R-Az) has filed his own version of Patent Reform Act of 2009 (S. 610).

Bill Bans Use of Federal Funds for Biologics

2009-06-8T20:37:00+00:00

Patent Law - New Proposed Legislation || A bill to prohibit the use of Federal funds to approve certain biologics license applications by the FDA || Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, has filed a billed that would prohibit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) from using federal funds to process biologics license applications for products that contain certain “select agents or toxins.”

Ill Dept of Revenue Clarifies Rule on Taxation of Sales of Canned Computer Software

2009-06-2T18:05:00+00:00

Tax Law - New Statutes, Regulations, and Rulings || General Information Letter ST 09-0036-GIL || In a general information letter (“GIL”), the Illinois Department of Revenue (“Department”) has stated that neither the transfer of canned computer software nor the subsequent software updates will be subject to Retailers' Occupation Tax under 86 Ill. Adm. Code 130.1935 if transactions for the licensing of computer software meet all…

Bill Giving Copyright Protection to Fashion Design Reintroduced in Congress

2009-06-2T17:24:00+00:00

Copyright Law - New Proposed Legislation || Design Piracy Prohibition Act || U.S. Representatives Williaml Delahunt (D-MA), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Jerry Nadler (D-NY) have introduced the Design Piracy Prohibition Act, bipartisan legislation which provides copyright protections to fashion designs.

First-Ever” House Bill Would Mandate One Week of Paid Vacation

2009-06-2T16:51:00+00:00

Employment Law - New Proposed Legislation || Paid Vacation Act of 2009 || Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) has introduced a bill that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to require that employers with at least 100 workers provide a minimum of one week of paid vacation each year.