Publications

Below are just two examples of the ongoing conflict between the research community’s need to publish and the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry’s need to maintain the confidentiality of the studies it sponsors during drug development. Immune Response Corporation’s HIV Drug Remune Immune Response Corporation (“IR”) recently entered into arbitration in a dispute with the University of California […]

Connecticut Public Act 05-251, signed by Governor Rell on June 30, 2005, makes substantial changes to Connecticut’s estate, gift and succession taxes. The changes are generally effective retroactive to January 1, 2005.

In 2007, the Connecticut General Assembly enacted significant legislation affecting the energy and utilities sector. The session addressed a variety of topics including electricity and energy efficiency, cellular towers, water company infrastructure and competitive video service, among other measures. The following is a summary of public acts we believe are likely to have an impact […]

Education expenses have soared over the past several years. According to collegeboard.com, the 2005–2006 average cost of tuition and fees at a private U.S. college was $21,235, up 5.9% from the previous year. The rising costs of education have led many to seek ways to help family and friends meet these obligations with minimal adverse […]

Several recent United States trial court holdings have opened up possible “loopholes” for the use of research tool patents and compounds for research use without infringement liability. In Bayer AG v. Housey Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the Court held that liability for infringing imports and sales under 35 USC §271(g) applies only to products derived from patented […]

Many current biotechnology developments are research tools that enable a drug developer to discover a drug product. Examples of research tools include high throughput screening technologies and other assay methods, cell lines, monoclonal antibodies, reagents, animal models, clones and cloning tools, laboratory equipment and machines, databases and computer software. Since the research tool’s patents may […]

On May 28, 2003, President Bush signed into law the “Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003” (the “Act”). Although not as large as the $726 billion tax cut originally proposed by the Bush Administration, the $350 billion Act is still the third largest tax cut in history and contains many aspects and […]

On February 8, 2006, President Bush signed into law the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), which aims to cut nearly $11 billion from Medicare and Medicaid program spending over the next five years. Buried within this extensive law are several provisions that, when pieced together, indicate that the federal fraud, waste and abuse spotlight […]

The 2005 legislative session was, once again, active and resulted in significant legislation of interest to the utility and regulated industries. The June special session produced the Energy Independence Act, which significantly affects utilities operating in Connecticut and the agencies regulating them. The following is a summary of bills that we believe could have a […]

On June 23, 2004, President Bush signed a bill that substantially modifies individuals’ and corporations’ potential exposure for antitrust violations – increasing the maximum sanctions in certain circumstances and reducing penalties in others. The bill (Pub. L. No. 108-237) includes two parts, the “Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004” and the “Standards […]

Proposed regulations and a proposed revenue procedure recently issued by the Internal Revenue Service would, if finalized in their current form, apply Internal Revenue Code section 83 to the receipt of a partnership interest as compensation for services rendered to the partnership. While section 83 had previously been applied to situations in which corporate equity […]

Recently, venture capital firms have become more careful with investments, frequently choosing to focus on their existing portfolio companies. As a result, cash constrained biotech companies with no public market must consider alternative forms of fundraising such as government funding, equipment financings, licensing opportunities and other strategic alliances with corporate partners. Government Funding and Public […]

On December 12, 2007, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (“Department” or “DPUC”) issued a final decision on the rate application filed earlier in the year by Aquarion Water Company of Connecticut (“Aquarion” or the “Company”). The final decision approved an overall revenue increase of $19.3 million, or about 16.7 overall. The following is […]

Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION II. BILLS PASSED AND SIGNED INTO LAW 1. AN ACT CONCERNING THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE LONG-TERM PLANNING COMMITTEEPublic Act No. 99-28, effective May 27, 1999 2. AN ACT CONCERNING PETS IN ELDERLY HOUSING Public Act No. 99-50, effective October 1, 1999 3. AN ACT CONCERNING CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITIES Public Act […]

On October 1, 2003, a new criminal law took effect targeting abuse of the elderly, blind, disabled and mentally retarded.

Starting October 1, 2003, long-term care providers have been required to implement a three-day time frame for reporting suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment of a nursing home resident or an elderly person to the Department of Social Services.

Poster presentations at scientific meetings are now viewed as “printed publications” that may be used as prior art references to prevent patenting the information contained in the presentation.

In its continued effort to improve corporate reporting and ensure accurate and timely disclosure in the wake of the Enron collapse, the Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rules that would require corporations to provide additional information more quickly to shareholders and require a company’s top executives to personally certify corporate results. These rule changes […]

On July 9, 2003, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (the Court) reversed nearly $490 million in damages, including $404 million in punitive damages, awarded to IGEN International, Inc. after a six year legal battle with Roche Diagnostics GmbH over issues relating to a license agreement (the Agreement). IGEN International, Incorporated v. […]

On April 13, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, Health Care Division (“BC”) issued a 37-page Advisory Opinion (“Opinion”) to TriState Health Partners, Inc. (“TriState”), a physician-hospital organization based in Hagerstown, Maryland, stating that the BC would not recommend that the Commission challenge TriState’s proposed clinical integration program under the antitrust laws. The […]

It has been announced that beginning on 12:01 on Saturday, June 13, 2009, Facebook will allow users to select personalized usernames that will be displayed as part of the user’s homepage URLs, for example, www.facebook.com/wigginanddana. Facebook will assign such usernames on a first come, first served basis.  

Now is an Excellent Time To Consider a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (“GRAT”) Because of Depressed Asset Values, Low Interest Rates and Possible Legislative Changes Overview In a typical GRAT, you transfer a property trust, retaining the right to receive an annuity payment for a fixed term. At the end of the term, the remaining […]

Amendments (the “Amendments”) have recently been made to the Connecticut Business Corporation Act (the “CBCA”) and will take effect on October 1, 2009. The following memorandum summarizes the most significant of these amendments. The majority of the Amendments can be sorted into one of three categories: (1) Shareholder Action; (2) Directors’ Matters; and (3) Appraisal […]

As of October 11, 2004, both houses of Congress have passed the American Jobs Creation Act (the “Act”). President Bush is expected to sign the Act into law shortly. The Act significantly changes the federal tax laws that apply to nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements and will require most employers to change their executive deferred compensation […]

In its much anticipated decision in Eldred v. Ashcroft on January 15, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutional authority of Congress to extend the term of future and currently existing copyrights. Article I, Section 8, clause 8 of the Constitution provides that “Congress shall have Power . . . To promote the Progress […]

On February 20, 2002, the European Commission pre-sented a proposal for a Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions. Citing an effort to harmonize the way in which national patent laws of its Member States deal with inventions using software, the European Commission recommended adoption of the proposed Directive to the European Union’s Council of […]

The National Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCUSL) ecently approved a series of amendments to its three-year old Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA). This model law would govern con-tracts involving information products and services and provide uniform commercial standards for transactions that involve, for example, software, on-line databases, digital multi-media prod-ucts, and computer games. […]

On November 2, 2002, the President signed the 21 st Century Department of Justice Appropriation Authorization Act (Public Law 107-273). Generally, the legislation authorized appropriations for the Department of Justice for the fiscal year 2002; however, several provisions reformed aspects of U.S. intellectual property law.

The Supreme Court of the United States has issued several decisions this Term that are sure to impact employers, both directly and indirectly. The following is a summary of the revelant cases.

Region 1 of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the region that includes Connecticut, is increasing its enforcement efforts at hospitals, while continuing its longstanding program to encourage hospitals and other healthcare facilities to reduce their pollution output voluntarily. This past April, Robert Varney, EPA’s Region 1 Administrator, wrote to more than 250 New […]