Articles

09.28.17

Proposed Legislation Aims to Make Patent Owners "STRONGER"

By Yasser M. El-Gamal, Partner, Intellectual Property | Ehab Samuel, Counsel, Intellectual PropertyWhy it matters: In late June 2017, proposed legislation titled the “STRONGER Patents Act of 2017” was introduced in the Senate with the goal of amending the ...


09.28.17

Copyright Protection for AI Machine Created Works?

By Yasser M. El-Gamal, Partner, Intellectual Property | Ehab Samuel, Counsel, Intellectual PropertyWhy it matters: Should the artistic efforts of robots, computers or other artificially intelligent machines be afforded copyright protection? If so, who, or what, would ...


09.27.17

When Is It Not a Constitutional Taking Case?

"The normal focus of this column is to examine what it takes to properly allege a constitutional property violation, a taking of property within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article I, section 19 of the California Constitution. This month’s ...


09.27.17

Spoofed Robocalls Yield Another Multimillion-Dollar Fine From FCC

By Christine M. Reilly, Chair, TCPA Compliance and Class Action Defense | Diana L. Eisner, Associate, LitigationCiting more than 21 million illegal calls, the Federal Communications Commission proposed an $82 million fine against Best Insurance Contracts, Inc., and owner Philip Roesel.The agency ...


09.27.17

Surprising Results for U.S. Chamber Statistics on TCPA Cases

By Christine M. Reilly, Chair, TCPA Compliance and Class Action DefenseDuring a 17-month period after the Federal Communication Commission’s July 2015 order, the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform compiled a database of 3,121 Telephone Consumer Protection Act cases filed ...


09.26.17

Who Is Responsible for Hazardous Material Cleanup?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that 13 Superfund sites were flooded and possibly damaged as a result of Hurricane Harvey. Refineries and chemical plants were reported to have been impacted by flooding, and it is not yet known how many smaller facilities that managed ...


09.24.17

Are the Politics of Climate Change Finally Reaching a Turning Point?

When Hurricane Harvey swept through South Texas last month, it inundated Houston and the surrounding coastline, displaced thousands, flattened homes and killed scores of residents. President Donald Trump tweeted about the “HISTORIC rainfall in Houston” and the ...


09.21.17

Court Finds Wellness Regs Too Sick to Stand

Why it mattersSiding with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), a D.C. federal court judge found the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) wellness rules with regard to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) ...


09.18.17

Documentary Transfer Tax Triggered by CA Entity Sales

The entity sale has long been a popular vehicle to indirectly transfer real property in California. However, the California Supreme Court recently changed the economics of such a transfer, deciding that such transfers can be subject to a county-imposed tax known as a “documentary transfer ...


08.31.17

Second Circuit: Termination Reversal Can Provide Basis for Suit

Why it mattersCan an employee pursue a Title VII and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) action where an allegedly discriminatory employment decision was reversed? Yes, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit has decided. Alana Shultz had worked for an employer for approximately 11 years when she ...