Publications
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 […]
In the world of science, the latest buzz-wordis “nanotechnology”. Nanotechnology and related “nano” subjects, such as nanoscience, nanostructures, nanobusiness, nanocomposites, and the like, have been the topic of everything from tradeshows and technical papers to Michael Crichton’s latest science-fiction bestseller. All this publicity leads many to ask: What is nanotechnology?
In November 2, 2003, the United States joined the international trademark treaty known as the Madrid Protocol. The Protocol provides U.S. trademark owners with the ability to seek registration in Madrid Protocol countries, using what has been called a “one-stop” filing mechanism. The system, administered by WIPO, offers the owner of a mark in the […]
A decision of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in Ulead Systems, Inc. v. Lex Computer Management Corp. , 351 F.3d 1120 (Fed. Cir. December 9, 2003), highlights the importance of carefully determining whether a patent applicant or patentee is qualified for “small entity” status when paying fees to the U.S. Patent […]
Created as part of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and made permanent in 1993, the LIHTC is an indirect federal subsidy used to finance the construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing throughout the United States. This indirect subsidy comes in the form of a federal income tax credit under Section 42 of the […]
Under federal and most states’ laws, no corporate money or resources may be used to promote the election or defeat of any candidate. A contribution includes any direct or indirect payment, loan, advance or gift of money, services or anything of value. A contribution can be monetary or non-monetary (“in-kind”). In-kind contributions include goods or […]
An effective compliance program should prove extremely valuable to corporations, both as a mitigating factor under the federal Organizational Sentencing Guidelines and as a shield against director liability for civil claims such as negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. Corporations assessing their existing compliance programs, or establishing compliance programs if none exist, should take advantage […]
The federal appeals court whose decisions are binding in Connecticut recently upheld a 20 year front pay award to a victim of retaliation under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Stephen Padilla convinced a jury that his employer, the Metro-North Commuter Railroad, retaliated against him for participation in an EEOC age discrimination investigation. The […]
August 1996 saw the passing into law of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), commonly referred to by its sponsors’ names as Kennedy-Kassebaum. With the signing of HIPAA came dramatic advances in the government’s ability to identify, investigate and prosecute health care fraud and abuse. The new landscape created by HIPAA includes a […]
Wiggin & Dana has prepared a 2003 update to the original HIPAA Handbook: Implementing the Federal Privacy Rule in a Long-Term Care Setting, published by the American Association of Home and Services for the Aging in 2001. The update discusses specific issues affecting long-term care providers under the Privacy Rule on such topics as continuum […]
USERRA. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) requires that plan sponsors credit employees with “make-up contributions” for certain periods of military service. USERRA applies to reemployments on or after December 12, 1994, but plan sponsors initially had until October 13, 1996 to bring their plans into formal compliance with the […]
The recent case, Vizcaino v. Microsoft , highlights yet again the significant financial consequences that can flow from a misclassification of workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Not only was Microsoft hit with past due tax liabilities and tax penalties, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has now ruled that Microsoft is liable […]
In October 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Investment Advisers Supervision Coordination Act (“Coordination Act”). The Coordination Act, and the new rules implementing the Act, went into effect on July 8, 1997, and operate to reallocate federal and state regulation of investment advisers. This reallocation of responsibility is designed to make the states primarily […]
One commonly overlooked aspect of the recent Small Business Jobs Protection Act is its creation of a new overtime exemption for certain computer professionals. The new exemption applies to those employees who earn at least $27.63 per hour and who fall within certain occupational categories and functional job descriptions set forth in the statute. The […]
In the near future, the Hartford and Bridgeport area offices of OSHA intend to implement a statewide safety and health program targeting Connecticut employers with the highest lost work day rates based on a 1995 survey. Selected employers will be invited to participate in voluntary hazard identification and abatement plans, or face traditional inspections with […]
TITLE TO REAL ESTATE How real property is owned can make an enormous difference in how it can be used to accomplish estate planning goals. Joint Tenancy. Many married couples own their primary residence in joint and Survivor form. This means that in the event of the death of one of the owners, the other […]
The Connecticut Supreme Court in CHRO v. Truelove & Maclean, Inc. recently clarified that damages for emotional distress are unavailable in proceedings before the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (“CHRO”). By way of background, last year in Bridgeport Hospital v. CHRO, the Supreme Court held that the CHRO had no authority to award emotional […]
Godfrey et al. v. Ethan Allen, Inc. Wiggin & Dana recently won defense verdicts from a jury in White Plains, New York on behalf of its client Ethan Allen. The company had been sued in federal court for age discrimination by eight former employees who were terminated for various reasons during 1992. This June, the […]
Two new laws have important effects for employers. The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 raises the federal minimum wage to $5.15 an hour effective September 1997, and makes settlements of discrimination claims taxable. On benefits, it restores the exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance, simplifies several qualified plan rules, and repeals the ban on […]
A little more than a year ago, many of us were frantically copying Privacy Notices, completing HIPAA training and tweaking our privacy policies. While some commentators predicted mass chaos after April 14, 2003 as a result of the HIPAA privacy requirements, the intervening year has been manageable, thanks to the diligent efforts of the health […]
Over the past months we have been receiving an increasing number of questions about the effect of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOA”) on nonprofit organizations. We have therefore prepared the enclosed guide “Governance and Nonprofit Corporations: Requirements and Expectations in a Post-Sarbanes-Oxley World. We hope this Primer, which reviews the relevant provisions and principles of SOA […]
In September 2000, CMS released its National Coverage Decision (the 2000 NCD) setting forth the Medicare reimbursement policy for clinical trials, in response to President Clinton's executive memorandum directing that Medicare pay for routine costs associated with participation in clinical trials. In the last two years, CMS has promulgated draft modifications to the 2000 NCD, […]
While the ethical and legal debate over investigator’s interpretation and publication of clinical study data is likely to continue for some time, as suggested by the Immune Response dispute and the ensuring public interest in the dispute, it is imperative that pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that engage universities and institutions to perform research and clinical […]
Claims Procedures The Department of Labor has issued proposed regulations on claims procedures for employee benefit plans subject to Title I of ERISA. These regulations reflect the DOL’s conclusion that the current regulations are no longer adequate to protect participants and beneficiaries, particularly in the health benefit context. Accordingly, while the proposed regulations apply to […]
Procedural Changes at the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO). Several important changes have been made to the time periods under which a CHRO complaint is processed. Respondents may now request extensions of time to answer an initial complaint, and the CHRO now has more time in which to make its initial Merit Assessment […]