Blogs

In a decision that is good news for California hospitals, the California Court of Appeal invalidated class certification when a San Diego-based hospital system proved that the only way to determine the members of an uninsured patient class was to review more than 120,000 patient records.

Fashion designers’ retail pricing and promotional strategies have quickly evolved in the last decade, with Internet channels dramatically altering distribution and sales tactics.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued final regulations requiring that calorie information be listed on menus and menu boards in chain restaurants, and retail food establishments, and final regulations governing mandatory calorie declaration on food sold in vending machines.

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on proposed updates to its broadcast Contest Rule.

Questions Standing of Indenture Trustees to Pursue Fraudulent Conveyance Claims
 

The Chicago City Council, by a vote of 44-5, approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to boost Chicago’s minimum wage to $13 per hour by mid-2019.

The Federal Trade Commission recently named Ashkan Soltani as its newest Chief Technologist.

The Patent Act’s fee shifting provision provides that a “court in exceptional cases may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party.”

On November 25, 2014, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the controversial “Retail Workers Bill of Rights.”

Ikea recently argued that a class action filed against it based on alleged violations of California’s Song-Beverly Act should not be maintained.

The General Accounting Office (GAO) recently released a report critical of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) pesticide residue monitoring programs for food.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently affirmed a decision of the Administrative Review Board of the Department of Labor, which had determined that a company’s disclosure of the identity of an SEC whistleblower.

The government’s recent and ongoing emphasis on eliminating health care fraud, waste and abuse appears likely to increase criminal prosecutions.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that its Form 477 Filer Interface has reopened.

The Bankruptcy Code definition of “intellectual property” does not explicitly include “trademarks.”

For the first time since 2009, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has sustained an opposition on the grounds that the applicant committed fraud on the USPTO.

Never forget that it is more important to ask the question than to provide the answer.

The Obama Administration has announced a series of initiatives to address the growing number of data breaches at major retailers.

On November 7, 2014, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended its Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to impose license requirements on the export, re-export, or transfer (in-country) of certain items to or within Venezuela when intended for a “military end use”

The D.C. Court of Appeals, the District of Columbia’s highest court, recently vacated and remanded a trial court’s decision granting judgment as a matter of law to the District after the trial court concluded that the Plaintiff had failed to present a prima facie case of retaliation.

Without a Republican majority in the Senate last year, Congress was unable to pass patent reform legislation.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently settled with two separate marketers of women’s undergarments over charges that the companies made false and misleading claims about the weight loss and fat burning benefits of caffeine-infused shapewear products.

FTC recently brought its first case under the 2010 Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act that prohibits online sellers from charging consumers in an Internet transaction unless the seller has clearly disclosed all material terms of the transaction and obtained consumers’ express informed consent.

In January 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) decided arbitration clauses in employment contracts that require individual arbitration, rather than class-wide or collective actions, violate Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (the NLRA or Act).