Perspectives on Consumer Products

As the crisis in Ukraine intensifies and broadens, more foreign investment is likely to find itself caught in the crossfire. The situation raises novel questions about the application of Ukraine’s many investment treaties in the context of armed conflict and belligerent occupation.

The Third Circuit agreed with the Bankruptcy Courts finding that the proposed releases were not adequately disclosed to the bondholders as required by Bankruptcy Rule 3016(c), and therefore would not be approved.

After announcing planned additional sanctions in the energy and military end-use sectors, the European Union and the United States both made good on their promises.

On July 29, 2014, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board), Richard Griffin, authorized NLRB Regional Directors to file unfair labor practice complaints against McDonald’s as an alleged “joint employer” alongside its local franchisees.

. TRIA provides a federal backstop given that catastrophic terrorism is an uninsurable risk, as described in a 2014 RAND Corporation analysis. Congress approved two TRIA extensions with reforms in 2005 and 2007.

On July 21, 2014, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order (the Order) prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity by federal contractors and agencies.

On July 14, 2014, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a new Enforcement Guidance on “Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues.”

On July 14, 2014, the DC Council unanimously approved the Fair Criminal Record Screening Act (the Act) that bars private employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal conviction record until the employer has extended a conditional job offer.

On July 16, 2014, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) escalated Russian sanctions by issuing “Sectoral Sanctions” — prohibitions on certain finance related transactions with certain entities, including two major Russian banks and two oil and natural gas producers.

In Lawson, the Court held that employees of a mutual fund, traditionally outside the coverage of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), are nonetheless protected by its whistleblower provision.

On July 17, 2014, responding in part to the expiration of numerous tax incentives last December 31, the House of Representatives approved by a 277–130 vote a bill (H.R. 4719, The America Gives More Act) containing permanent extension of several tax incentives related to charitable deductions.

All good wealth management includes estate planning as a component. Changes in the tax laws, modern trust conventions and family changes make periodic reviews of estate plans a real necessity.

The crux of the issue the District Court considered was the interplay between sections 363(f) and 365(h) of the Bankruptcy Code.

The DC Circuit recently held that the attorney-client privilege applies to internal investigations, even when the investigations are mandated by law and are not conducted with the sole purpose of obtaining or providing legal advice.

On July 11, 2014, the FDA issued a new Draft Guidance (the Guidance) that will require drug companies to submit information on most drug samples that they distribute in the United States. The new Guidance is entitled “Reporting Drug Sample Information Under Section 6004 of the Affordable Care Act.”

Currently, the federal circuits are split over the level of deference that should be afforded to findings made by the USPTO’s Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (TTAB) on likelihood of confusion, with the circuit courts applying at least five different standards.

On June 25, 2014, in a unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court struck down the “presumption of prudence” afforded ERISA fiduciaries with respect to employer stock investments in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and defined contribution plans.

The US Supreme Court this morning granted cert in a closely watched False Claims Act (FCA) case, Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Carter — a case that raises important questions about wartime suspension of the FCA’s statute of limitations.

In a relatively narrow ruling that may have far greater practical ramifications than constitutional ones, a unanimous US Supreme Court on Thursday struck down President Obama’s 2012 recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board).

On June 19, 2014, in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. ___2014, a unanimous Supreme Court held that systems and methods of exchanging financial obligations, implemented in hardware or software, did not qualify for patent protection.