On December 30, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) published its annual solicitation for the development and/or modification of safe harbor provisions under the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue recently issued a draft directive setting out what records must be kept for all vendors, retailers, and contractors using computerized point-of-sale systems.

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General posted Advisory Opinion No. 14-11 addressing a charitable foundation’s request to provide cost-sharing assistance to financially needy patients diagnosed with either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.

Should you choose federal litigation or arbitration? In arbitration, parties to a dispute agree to submit the dispute for a decision to a neutral third party who is not a public official. Advantages include limited discovery while disadvantages include narrower grounds for appeal.

On January 6, 2015, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez delivered a speech discussing best practices for companies in the emerging market of the “Internet of Things,” which refers to the wireless interconnectivity of everyday devices, from home appliances to medical devices.

Late last week, eight days after the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) expired, the US House of Representatives and the US Senate overwhelmingly approved H.R. 26, legislation reauthorizing TRIA until the end of 2020.

In a precedential ruling, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) sustained an opposition by McDonald’s to the mark MCSWEET for pickled gourmet vegetables on the grounds that it infringed on and diluted McDonald’s famous family of “MC” for formative marks.

Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development announced an enhanced Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy when it released a report entitled “Doing Business the Canadian Way: A Strategy to Advance Corporate Social Responsibility in Canada’s Extractive Sector Abroad.”

On December 30, 2014, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R), signed Public Law 414 into law, which excludes college athletes from the definition of “public employees” who are entitled to collectively bargain in Michigan.

Following up from the Executive Order 13685 which effectively banned US trade and investment with Crimea, the Department of the Treasury has just issued General License 5.

It will be interesting to see if the Rule survives the judicial, and perhaps even legislative, challenges it may face. If you have any questions about the Rule, please contact the authors of this post or the Arent Fox professional who handles your matters.

On November 20, 2014, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that False Claims Act recoveries from civil settlements and judgments in Fiscal Year 2014 (ending September 30) reached a record $5.69 billion.

TRUSTe, Inc., a major provider of privacy certifications for online businesses, recently settled with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over charges that it has been engaging in deceptive business practices.

On December 15, 2014, a divided National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) published its controversial Final Rule on Representation-Case Procedures (the Rule).

The United States and the European Union imposed additional sanctions on Russia and Crimea.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a dozen Warning Letters to dairy farms across the country.

In a live press conference yesterday, President Barack Obama announced the beginning to a thaw in more than 50 years of chilly relations with Cuba.

In October 2014, California Attorney General Kamala Harris released the California Data Breach Report, the state’s most recent analysis of data security threats facing businesses and consumers.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued Guidance that describes circumstances that could occur during a drug facility inspection that might be deemed to constitute a “delay,” “denial,” “limitation,” or “refusal” of an inspection.

Video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc. recently won a key victory in the ongoing battle over the right of publicity when a California state court judge dismissed former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega’s well-publicized lawsuit.

In order to prevent employee theft, some employers — particularly in the retail arena — require their employees to undergo security screenings before leaving the employer’s facilities.

A former student of the Fashion Institute of Technology recently suffered a decisive blow in her lawsuit against her alma mater and Barnes & Noble, Inc. based on the latter’s use of the student’s copyrighted drawing in connection with the production of a line of backpacks.

in a radical departure from settled National Labor Relations Board (the Board or NLRB) precedent, a sharply divided NLRB ruled in a 3-2 decision that a policy limiting the use of an employee’s work email to work-only purposes violated the National Labor Relations Act (the Act or NLRA).