Publications
A recent California intermediate appellate court decision provides a good example of appellate court intervention to correct extreme jury generosity which may have been prompted by a risky cross-examination question. The case, Buell-Wilson v. Ford, arose out of an SUV rollover accident which left the driver with multiple severe injuries including paraplegia due to spinal […]
2004 Legislative Session of the Connecticut General Assembly
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued final rules intended to be responsive to the “real time issuer disclosure” mandate in Section 409 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, that requires public companies to disclose material informa-tion on a “rapid and current basis”. The new rules expand the number of events that are reportable on Form […]
The Connecticut Brownfields Redevelopment Authority has several programs to help developers and municipalities overcome barriers to Brownfields development. This article features two of these programs, those for Brownfields Assessment Grants and Grants for Brownfields Redevelopment.
Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Jacques v. DiMarzio, Inc., held that “interacting with others” is a major life activity under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
A Connecticut federal court recently held, in Bechtel v. Competitive Techs., Inc., that a Connecticut technology company must reinstate two whistleblowers while it appealed a decision of the Secretary of Labor under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 added a new rollover requirement for tax-qualified retirement plans that make involuntary cash-outs of small benefits. The Internal Revenue Service recently issued guidance on how that requirement should be administered.
Victims of accidents outside the United States sometimes attempt to sue product manufacturers or distributors in courts in the United States. A common response to such suits is a motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens gounds. Recently New York federal court Judge Shira Scheindlin granted such a motion in a case arising out […]
This year was a relatively quiet one for utility legislation. The following is a summary of bills that we believe are likely to have an impact on utilities and regulated industries and the consumers who purchase their services.
Final regulations under Code Sections 401(k) and 401(m) were effective for Plan Years beginning on and after January 1, 2006. The regulations contained changes and clarifications to plan provisions relating to nondiscrimination testing, salary reduction elections, distributions, hardship withdrawals, and safe harbor contributions. Most changes were mandatory, but some were optional.
Although the recent debate on the use of human embryonic stem cells for research purposes centers on the ethical dilemma, the true extent of future stem cell research that will be done in this country may be determined largely by patent law and contractual arrangements. Human embryonic stem cells are thought to have the ability […]
On February 20, 2003, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published the final HIPAA security standards, Health Insurance Reform: Security Standards; Final Rule, 45 CFR Parts 160, 162 and 164, 68 Fed. Reg. 8333. These standards establish a security management framework for the protection of Electronic Protected Health Information (EPHI). Significantly, this final […]
On February 6, 2003, the United States Department of Justice announced the settlement of an action resulting in the largest-ever civil penalty for so-called “gun jumping,” or coordination between companies before they have formally consummated a merger. The consent decree provides that the newly merged Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. will pay a record $5.67 million […]
Congress is now considering several amendments to the Patent Act, enacted in 1952. In my opinion, any patent reform must continue to encourage the full disclosure of each invention through the “best mode” requirement, not accommodate the veiling of parts of the invention in a cloak of secrecy.
The failure to keep accurate employment related records in accordance with applicable law may have broader implications than many employers suppose. Indeed, in a recent Second Circuit case, Byrnie v. Town of Cromwell, the Court of Appeals held that an employer’s destruction of records which it is obligated to maintain under federal law may not […]
In the recent case, Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a Washington state statute which automatically revoked the designation of a spouse as a beneficiary under an employee benefit plan upon a divorce was preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). This decision is good news for plan […]
Federal laws impose different requirements regarding the length of time employment-related documents must be kept. Here is a brief summary of some of those requirements. 1. What kind of records must be kept under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (“Title VII”) and the Americans With Disabilities Act? How long must they be maintained? […]
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently heard the case of Group One, Ltd., v. Hallmark Cards, Inc., which highlighted a problem potentially encountered by patent applicants whose U.S. patent applications claim Paris Convention priority to foreign applications. Certain events can occur before the priority date, which do not destroy novelty under the […]
On February 21, 2002, the Bureau of Export Administration (“BXA”) of the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed a $95,000 civil penalty on Neopoint, Inc., for illegal exports of encryption technology to South Korea. The action underscores the Bush Administration’s commitment to national security aspects of technology policy. In this heightened period of security, companies […]
On November 29, 2000, the American Inventor’s Protection Act (AIPA) became law. While the Act contains many diverse provisions, two of the most significant provisions for companies working in the biotechnology area are publication of U.S. patent applications and provisional patent rights. Amended statute 35 U.S.C. §122(b) now provides for publication of U.S. patent applications […]
The term of U.S. copyright protection for any given work is sometimes difficult to determine due to the many changes in our copyright law over the past twenty-five years. Generally, for a work that was created but neither “published” nor the copyright registered before January 1, 1978, the copyright endures either for the life of […]
The Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (“CREATE”) Act of 2004 was signed into law by President Bush on December 10, 2004. The Act amends 35 U.S.C. §103(c) of the U.S. Patent Laws to provide a safe harbor where research is carried out under a joint collaborative research agreement between individuals or entities. The CREATE Act […]
In a significant decision sure to have a major impact on the pharmaceutical industry, the United States Supreme Court today held that the “safe harbor provision” of 35 U.S.C. §271(e)(1), which exempts from infringement, among other things, the making or using of a patented compound “solely for uses reasonably related to the development and submission […]
In a recent press release, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced plans to begin publicly releasing comment letters and filer responses relating to disclosure filings reviewed by its Divisions of Corporation Finance and Investment Management. These comment and response letters are currently only available upon submission of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request […]
Hello again (after a long absence)! Yes….it has been a long time and I regret not keeping all of you updated more frequently…..if this is your first update, welcome aboard! As many of you know, courts in the U.S. have long struggled concerning not only when to award punitive damages (in product liability cases many […]
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced a new electronic database as part of its effort to make the patent examination process fully transparent to the public. The new database, known as the Public PAIR (Patent Application and Information Retrieval) system, allows anyone with Internet access to track the status of a public […]
Consider the following scenario: you own a Connecticut cheese-making business, and a key employee leaves your family business, and proceeds to open up a competitive business somewhere else in New England doing what you do best, making cheese. Further the former employee sells to your customers using your customer list and using your family’s “secrets […]
In 2008, the Connecticut General Assembly enacted a variety of measures affecting the utility industry and energy sector. During its regular session, the legislature enacted new siting requirements for facilities in “environmental justice communities,” a significant climate change act that includes mandatory limits for greenhouse gas emissions and other measures to confront global warming, and […]
The reaction of businesses to the vast, cross-cutting challenge of global climate change has spurred the insurance industry to offer an array of new products and services aimed to reduce climate-related losses, facilitate emerging mitigating technologies, and encourage carbon trading markets. This advisory focuses on some of these new products, particularly those supporting the nascent […]
In January 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the “Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act” (“BRA”). Among other important provisions, the BRA amended the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA” or “Superfund,” 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 et seq.) to provide protection against liability under that statute to prospective purchasers […]