Publications

The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”) is the most significant change to patent law since the 1952 Patent Act. The USPTO has gradually implemented numerous provisions of the AIA. Significantly, patent applications filed on or after March 16, 2013 will be subject to the following Rule changes: First-to-File System. Previously, patent applications were filed based […]

In an all-too familiar fact pattern, a San Francisco-based employee of a California-based cord blood bank put four company back-up tapes — filled with personal data on 300,000 pregnant mothers, expectant fathers and newborns — into a backpack and then set out by car to deliver the tapes to the company headquarters in San Bruno, […]

The smoke has barely lifted since Connecticut’s passage of Public Act No. 12-55, “An Act Concerning the Palliative Use of Marijuana” (“the Act”), and the questions continue to pile high. On October 1, 2012 Connecticut became the seventeenth state to allow the physician-authorized use of marijuana for specifically enumerated and “debilitating medical conditions.” Companies who […]

For several years running, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) has chastened businesses for alleged laxity in securing consumer data from breaches and other unauthorized access. The overwhelming majority of these enforcement efforts have focused on how corporate end users of information technology products fail to manage the security of their internal networks or […]

California regulators have traditionally carried the flag towards new consumer privacy protections in the nation’s digital economy. Last week, the California Attorney General took the battle to the privacy wilderness known as the “mobile ecosystem” by issuing comprehensive recommendations to protect consumer privacy in “[a] world gone mobile.” “Privacy on the Go: Recommendations for the […]

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen [1] announced yesterday a $7 million multistate settlement with Google, Inc. arising out of Google’s ambitious, but over-intrusive ‘Street View’ project to map the United States at street level and improve Google’s geo-location services. Attorney General Jepsen’s office led an executive committee of eight states that conducted negotiations with Google […]

This time last year, Wiggin and Dana’s Securities and Capital Markets Group summarized many of the legal considerations and best practices involving social media communications by reporting companies.[1] As we begin the new year, many public companies look to update internal controls and procedures. A recent encounter with the SEC by Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, […]

On February 12, 2013, President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order, titled “Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity” (the “Order”), aimed at bolstering U.S. cybersecurity through voluntary best practices developed by federal agencies in collaboration with industry stakeholders. The President officially announced the long-awaited Order, as well as a related document, the “Presidential Policy Directive on Critical […]

On the eve of Groundhog Day, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) released comprehensive recommendations for improving consumer privacy in the data-hungry realm of mobile apps (the “Recommendations”). The Recommendations urge mobile industry players to adopt a variety of best practices in their data collection and sharing practices, most notably by (i) improving the transparency of […]

The rules regarding the Say-on-Pay and Say-on-Frequency voting requirements that have been in effect for larger companies for the past two proxy seasons are now also applicable to smaller reporting companies (“SRCs”). SRCs enjoyed a temporary exemption but are now required to include the Say-on-Pay and Say-on-Frequency votes beginning with their proxy statements for the […]

Over the past year, a significant number of companies have adopted forum selection provisions in their corporate governing documents establishing that derivative actions and other actions against the corporation may only be brought in the state of incorporation. This practice gained popularity among corporations following a recent opinion by the Delaware Court of Chancery suggesting […]

The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily enjoined the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) from requiring private-sector employers to comply with a Final Rule mandating them to post a notice informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. This is the third time the posting deadline has been changed […]

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 directed the SEC to enact rules requiring public companies to hold a non-binding advisory “Say-on-Pay” vote to approve the compensation program for their named executive officers and an accompanying non-binding advisory vote as to the frequency of holding the Say-on-Pay vote – every year, […]

As previously reported, last year the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a Final Rule requiring that private-sector employers subject to the NLRB’s jurisdiction post a notice informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). Implementation of that rule was postponed on two occasions, most recently due to consolidated legal challenges […]

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) recently held in D.R. Horton, Inc., 357 NLRB No. 184 (Jan. 3, 2012) that an employer violates the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), and thus commits an unfair labor practice, by requiring its employees “as a condition of employment to sign an agreement that precludes them from filing joint, […]

On January 24, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board’s Office of the General Counsel, Division of Operations-Management, issued its second Memorandum describing the facts presented and rulings issued in several recent social media cases. The Memorandum, which may be accessed here, is intended to further clarify the NLRB’s position regarding this evolving area of law […]

The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral argument on April 16, 2012 in Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., No. 11-204, and thereby take the first step toward resolving the divisive issue of whether Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives (“PSR’s”) are exempt from the overtime pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). An […]

Companies are becoming increasingly dependent on digital technologies in the operation of their businesses. At the same time, data security breaches and other “cyber incidents” have become more frequent and severe. Consequently, it has become imperative that public companies understand how cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents should be described within the framework of the disclosure […]

As we all start the new year with a fresh, renewed outlook, it is a good idea for a public company to do the same and dust off its corporate governance guidelines and charters and its internal securities laws compliance policies. In doing so, and given the explosion of social media communications in society at […]

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has once again extended the deadline for private-sector employers subject to the NLRB’s jurisdiction to comply with a Final Rule requiring them to post a notice informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. The deadline to comply is now April 30, 2012. The deadline change […]

On June 30, 2011, we notified you about Public Act 11-52 (the “Act”) which, effective January 1, 2012, will require employers to provide up to five (5) days paid sick leave per calendar year to eligible employees. We defined covered employers, described the employees who will be eligible for the paid leave, outlined the Act’s […]

A New York federal appeals court has reversed the conviction of Mahmoud Reza Banki (“Banki”), an Iranian born United States citizen charged with violating the Iranian Transactions Regulations (“ITR”), among other offenses. See United States v. Banki, Docket No. 10-3381-cr (2d Cir. October 24, 2011). Notable for that reason alone (criminal convictions are rarely reversed, […]

The next 12 months are a great time to consider updating your estate plan. The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Authorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 extended many of the Bush-era tax cuts until December 31, 2012, including setting the maximum income tax rate at 35% and the maximum capital gains rate at 15%. The […]

Updated Protocol Features Incentives for Providers: Lower Multipliers and Presumption Against Requiring Integrity Agreements On April 17, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a substantially revised Self-Disclosure Protocol (SDP). This updated SDP supersedes and replaces the OIG's original 1998 SDP, as well as three Open Letters to […]

Industry News In Re: Deepwater Horizon Insurance Litigation – Fifth Circuit Reverses in Favor of BP’s Additional Insured Claim By Charles Platto, Joseph G. Grasso, and Michael Menapace The following is excerpted from a recently published Feature Article in the Insurance Litigation Reporter, Vol. 35, No. 4, Mar. 18, 2013 (Thompson Reuters). During the very […]

On January 2, 2013, Congress passed the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012” (“the Act”). Aside from the welcome certainty it provided to the federal estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) tax exemptions and rates in 2013, the Act provided for a number of additional changes that affect many taxpayers. Income Tax Changes Made by […]

The Department of Labor has issued a final rule, effective March 8, 2013, expanding the protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (“FMLA”) for military family members, and clarifying the regulations on intermittent leave. The Federal FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take job-protected, unpaid leave, or to substitute appropriate […]

A proposed new immigration law may significantly change the applicable rules and processes associated with foreign national workers being employed in the U.S. Among other things, the proposed law includes changes to the H-1B temporary worker program and changes to immigrant visas (“green cards”). The PROPOSED New Law: General Information On April 16, 2013, the […]

The recently-issued 2013 Verizon Enterprise Data Breach Investigations Report finds that businesses continue to experience serious and often costly data breach incidents. The Report also notes that many of these incidents might be prevented, or their effects mitigated, if appropriate data security practices and policies were in place. Wiggin and Dana Partners, Aaron Bayer, Michelle […]

All Time High Transfer Tax Exemptions: The federal estate and gift tax exemption and the generation skipping transfer tax exemption are both at an all time high of $5,120,000. (This is an increase for inflation over the 2011 exemption level of $5,000,000). Low Transfer Tax Rates: The federal estate and gift tax rate and the […]