Publications
We wanted to take a moment to summarize for you the uncertain status and politics of the HIPAA privacy regulations and the implications for this uncertainty on how to plan for HIPAA compliance and other information technology (IT) strategies. In short, this remains a time for evaluating your current privacy and security practices, thinking about […]
This rule adopts standards for eight electronic transactions and for code sets to be used in those transactions. It also contains requirements concerning the use of these standards by health plans, health care clearinghouses, and certain health care providers.
When I participated in If’s Ansvarskonferens last February 3, it became apparent to me that attorneys for and representatives of Swedish companies whose products are sold in the United States are very interested in U.S. product liability law. Since then I’ve been thinking of creating a list of interested persons to whom I could send […]
If you are a lobbyist, do business or plan to do business with the State of Connecticut, or own or work for a business with a registered political action committee (“PAC”), you should be aware of sweeping new campaign finance reform provisions that take effect on December 31, 2006. These provisions are contained in Public […]
According to a November 2007 article published by the RREEF Research Foundation, “Buildings account for 39 of the nation’s primary energy use, 70 of its electricity consumption, 30 of raw materials use and 30 of greenhouse gas emissions.” At a June 2007 program sponsored by the New York City Bar and the Pace Law School […]
I didn’t think I’d be writing again so soon but there’s some big news on the tobacco front that I thought I’d share with you. Even if your company doesn’t sell tobacco products, I think you’ll find these developments to be broadly applicable.
It’s been a while since I’ve written but that’s because things have been quiet on the product liability front. I won’t be surprised if that continues for the rest of the summer.
Much has been written in the press about the pending (albeit temporary) repeal of the federal estate tax. Less has been written about the actions of state governments to modify (which is to say, increase) state death taxes in the wake of the federal estate tax repeal. Even if it turns out that total federal […]
An interesting appellate court ruling from New Jersey came across my desk this week. The case, Bialek v. Ford Motor Company, is remarkable both for the extent of bias demonstrated by Superior Court (trial) Judge Carol Ferentz towards Ford and the appellate court’s explicit finding of “antagonistic” comments by Judge Ferentz.
A new Connecticut law imposing protections against identify theft will take effect on October 1, 2008. The law, Public Act 08-167, applies to any person or entity that collects or possesses another person's personal information.
On January 27, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc., 296 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, 123 S.Ct. 993 (2003), a case in which the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the First Amendment protected the producers of the song Barbie Girl from a trademark […]
A so-called “experimental use” exception to patent infringement has long been recognized under U. S. law. This exception provides that infringement does not occur if the otherwise infringing acts are for amusement, to satisfy idle curiosity or for philosophical inquiry. However, if the infringing acts are for commercial purposes, the exception does not apply and […]
In Mosley v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc., 537 US – (2003), the United States Supreme Court resolved a split among the federal circuits and held that the Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c) (2003), (FTDA) requires a plaintiff to show actual dilution, rather than a likelihood of dilution, in order to […]
The “fair use doctrine,” articulated in 17 U.S.C. § 107, embodies the idea that persons should be free to use portions of copyrighted works for the purposes of comment, criticism, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research and other “transformative” uses. In other words, although a person engages in conduct that involves verbatim copying of a copyrighted […]
The Hatch-Waxman’s patent term extension provision, part of the Hatch-Waxman Act’s carefully negotiated set of compromises, increased the patent protection available to certain pharmaceutical products. The general legislative goal was to preserve incentives for innovation by restoring a portion of the patent term lost through a lengthy pre-market regulatory approval process. Accordingly, depending on the […]
Cybergripers are people who register domain names using the trademarks of others, with or without adding a disparaging term such as “sucks” or “bites”, e.g., yourtrademarksucks.com. The corresponding Web sites may be parody sites, or more often than not, forums for complaints about the applicable trademark owner.
Although product liability defendants often complain about unscrupulous plaintiffs’ lawyers, they are usually content to say “good riddance” with a defense verdict or a small settlement. In a particularly egregious situation, Chrysler recently decided to go further. They sued three Texas lawyers from the Kugle law firm in San Antonio and filed grievances against them […]
The State of Connecticut has enacted a number of tax provisions designed to encourage research and development activities within its borders. Of principal significance are the tax credit allowances under the corporate business tax regime. There are three tax credit provisions: the basic tax credit, the incremental tax credit for certain increases in expenditures from […]
In a recent decision in Wilson v. Sundstrand Corp., an Illinois federal court judge dismissed strict liability claims against Sundstrand (a United Technologies company) arising out of a 1997 airplane crash in Indonesia in which 244 people died. Sundstrand allegedly manufactured a defective “ground proximity warning system” (GPWS) which failed to function during the crash […]
For years, Connecticut's laws governing living wills and the authority to make health care decisions have been a patchwork of confusing and unnecessarily duplicative provisions. Proposals to simplify and strengthen our advance directives laws have been proposed by several groups, including the Law and Ethics Task Force of the Connecticut Coalition to Improve End of […]
Over the last few years, both the federal government and many state governments have attempted to facilitate the redevelopment of brownfields sites. EPA has defined brownfields as “abandoned, idle or underused industrial and commercial sites where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination that can add cost, time or uncertainty to […]
Connecticut law now requires employers, in most circumstances, to give employees advance written notice before monitoring their electronic communications. The statute governing the electronic monitoring of employees became effective on October 1, 1998, and provides that employers must post in a “conspicuous place” a notice concerning the types of electronic monitoring that the employer conducts. […]
Region 1 of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the region that includes Connecticut, will soon launch a program for encouraging “voluntary compliance” with environmental laws and regulations by hospitals and other health care institutions in its geographical domain.
In a case that could have wide-reaching implications for companies that engage in e-commerce, a Florida District Court recently held in Access Now, Inc. v. Southwest Airlines Co., 2002 WL 31360397, that internet sites are not “public accommodations” subject to the requirements of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).
In a major immigration law development, on November 2, 2002, President Bush signed into law a measure that allows H-1B nonimmigrant visa holders to extend their status in one year increments beyond the six year limitation if a labor certification application has been pending for at least 365 days. Employers sponsor foreign workers for H-1B […]
Several months ago Deputy Assistant Secretary Charles E. James of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) signed the Functional Affirmative Action Plan Directive outlining provisions for contractors to request approval to prepare functional, rather than establishment, based plans. Contractors have had varied success in getting such requests approved. It is, however, worth making […]
Most people are aware that Title VII prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of race and sex. As our page 1 article points out, Title VII cases continue to be brought on a regular basis. It is important, therefore, to remember that Title VII also requires employers to provide a workplace that is free of […]
Public Act 02-136, which takes effect October first, requires employment applications that contain questions concerning the criminal history of the applicant to contain a clear and conspicuous statement that: 1) the applicant is not required to disclose the existence of any arrest, criminal charge or conviction, the records of which have been erased pursuant to […]
As mentioned earlier in this newsletter, Connecticut has recently passed legislation affecting employment applications. The following provides further guidance regarding employment applications. 1. Is there a general rule of thumb regarding what employers should and should not ask an applicant? Yes, employers should ask only job-related, nondiscriminatory questions. Generally acceptable areas of inquiry include education […]
Increasingly, employers find themselves battling former employees over the companies’ intellectual property (IP). The seriousness of such disputes was emphasized recently in Santa Clara County California where 6 Avant! employees were convicted in a criminal trade secrets case, and Avant! was ordered to pay $195 million in restitution to Cadence Design Systems, Inc. At the […]