Features
Reclassification of Obesity and Changes to the Manual of Mental Disorders
Recent medical disease reclassifications are affecting a large portion of America's workforce, and the long-term impact is proving difficult to predict.
Features
Medical Monitoring
Courts typically treat medical monitoring as a potential remedy for a traditional tort claim. In such cases, plaintiffs allege exposure to toxic substances as a result of a defendant's tortious conduct; yet at the time the action is commenced, plaintiffs are asymptomatic and allege no physical injuries.
Features
Upcoming FLSA Changes: What You Need To Know
President Barack Obama recently directed the DOL to propose revisions to modernize and streamline existing overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The changes will likely have a significant impact on employers and their overtime obligations.
Are We All Computer Felons?
Tthe Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) has come under recent scrutiny due to its use against unsuspecting individuals who may not be the malicious hackers that the Act was originally meant to address. This has led to a noisy push for CFAA reform, a split in the Federal Circuit Courts and calls for Congressional action.
Features
Changes to Mental Disorders
The ACA is not the only health care challenge facing employers. Recent medical disease reclassifications are affecting a large portion of America's workforce, and the long-term impact is proving difficult to predict. These changes may result in an increased number of workers' compensation and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) discrimination claims, but hopefully, they will also result in a greater emphasis placed upon prevention and treatment.
Features
The ITC Is Dead, Long Live the ITC
In the last decade, the ITC has been an increasingly popular forum for litigating IP rights, largely because it offers a quick and forceful remedy in the form of an exclusion order, which can exclude infringing products from the U.S. market. In recent months, several important decisions have caused some to question the continuing vitality of the ITC as forum.
The Common Interest Doctrine and the Investigation of First-Party Claims
It is essential for parties to be able to determine whether or not communication will be protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege or the work-product doctrine. As the Supreme Court observed, "an uncertain privilege ' is little better than no privilege at all."
Columns & Departments
IP News
Federal Circuit: Only Patent Owner May Appeal a PTAB Reexamination Decision <br>Federal Circuit: Clones Not Patentable Subject Matter<br>Federal Circuit: PTO's Decision Not to Initiate <i>Inter Partes</i> Review Is Not Appealable
Columns & Departments
At the Intersection: Law's Tectonic Shifts
Over and again in our recent consulting engagements ' particularly with large firms, where trends tend to start ' we're seeing signals that the legal profession is caught in the confluence of destructive trends:
Features
Seeking Quick Relief for Trademark Claims on Social Media Sites
Policing and enforcing trademark rights in social media requires a brand owner to reexamine some of the basic premises about infringement. It is black letter law that trademark maintenance requires a trademark owner to maintain control over the quality of the goods and services associated with its mark. In the infringement context, this has generally been interpreted as an obligation to prevent any uses that are inconsistent with the brand's image. However, social media has altered this fundamental assumption.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- Lack of Logo Placement At Center of Ruling Over Meat Loaf Album PackagingTo build visibility for its brand, a record label or production company will want its logo included on products containing its master recordings manufactured and distributed by third parties. This will be addressed in the agreement between the label or production company and manufacturer/distributor. The failure to include the logo may raise a host of issues, from the breadth of the logo-placement obligation ' such as whether it includes Internet downloads ' to the proper theory on which to base any damages and just which album-sales figures are subject to evidentiary discovery. A recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ' in a long-running dispute between Cleveland International Records and Sony Music Entertainment ' illustrated how these issues may be argued and decided.Read More ›
- Law Firms and the Rise of HospitalityThe law firm office cannot remain unchanged, as if frozen in time set to some date prior to the onset of pandemic, when the terms and meaning have all changed. In fact, the office must now provide benefits or an experience the lawyers and staff cannot get at home.Read More ›
- The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance ProgramsThe parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.Read More ›