Mondaq Business Briefing articles from January 2008

Mondaq Business Briefing archives from January 2008

Bill Facilities Now Regulated By The UCCC.(Uniform Consumer Credit Code )
January 1, 2008... New Regulations have been passed bringing the use of bill facilities, such as bills of exchange or promissory notes, within the Uniform Consumer Credit Code (UCCC) where the credit is provided wholly or predominantly for "personal, domestic or...

The Refinancing Disclosure Trap... And How To Avoid It.(Australian Securities Exchange rule)(Corporations Act)
January 2, 2008... Key Point Directors of a listed entity need to ensure that, when faced with a spectrum of challenging issues, including the actual solvency and financial viability of an organisation, disclosure obligations are not overlooked. Market...

Perspective: Can Social Networking Co-Exist With The Workplace?(Reprint)
January 3, 2008... Reprinted with permission from CNet.com. With Facebook and MySpace.com participation growing by leaps and bounds, social-networking sites are making their way into the workplace too. Is that a good thing? Not necessarily if you ask the...

Hark...2007 Energy Legislation Signed Into Law! But Who Got The Good Toys?
January 3, 2008... Originally published December 21, 2007 Ah, the holiday season in Washington, D.C.-concerts, brightly lit trees and candles, snowflakes and fancy parties, not to mention frenzied activities in the House and Senate on critical bills, complete...

AML Update: Managed Investment Schemes.(law for management of investments)
January 3, 2008... P>AUSTRAC has updated its statement on the unintended exemption of managed investment schemes from the operation of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act). The revised statement is dated 21 December...

New Legislation Would Reform The Freedom Of Information Act.
January 3, 2008... On December 18, 2007, Congress approved a bill that would make the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") more formidable by increasing pressure on federal agencies to comply with meaningful deadlines for responses to FOIA requests and imposing...

Rise Of The Cyber-Slackers: How Web 2.0 And Generation "C" Could Transform The Workplace.
January 3, 2008... It will not be news to employers that over the past few years online technology and culture have evolved in remarkable and, perhaps, unexpected ways. Nor will it be news that these advances have brought with them new questions and concerns...

Harcourt V FEF Griffin [2007] EWHC 1500 (QB). Deep Pockets Revealed: A Defendant's Obligation To Disclose The Full Extent Of His Insurance Cover.(Case overview)
January 3, 2008... Traditionally Defendants are under no obligation to disclose the extent of their insurance cover to a Claimant, it not being 'relevant' to the issues in dispute between the parties for the purposes of their disclosure obligations under Civil...

The Rise Of ERISA Litigation And Its Impact On Collective Trusts - Goodwin Procter To Hold A Webinar On Recent Trends, February 7, 2008.
January 3, 2008... Originally published December 25, 2007 The past year has seen a dramatic rise in litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended ("ERISA"). As more of the nation's wealth has moved into retirement savings...

Courts Address Contract Implications Of Utilizing Subcontractor Bids.(Case overview)
January 3, 2008... O'Shea v. New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation (New Jersey Appellate Division: 2006) Fletcher-Harlee Corp. v. Pote Concrete Contractors, Inc. (Third Circuit Court of Appeals: 2007) Two recent cases dealing with New Jersey law...

New York State Follows Lead of New York City In Addressing False Claims.
January 3, 2008... In 2005, New York City enacted false claims legislation as part of the city's administrative code. The NYC law, modeled loosely after the Federal False Claims Act, was passed to protect New York City from "false or fraudulent claims." In...

Foreign Trademarks Are Capable Of Protection Under New York Law Unfair Competition Under Theory Of Misappropriation.
January 3, 2008... The interesting question of whether a trademark used only abroad can be the basis of an unfair competition claim under New York law was decided on December 13, 2007, by New York's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals. ITC Limited v....

SEC Adopts Revisions To Rules 144 And 145.(Securities and Exchange Commission)
January 3, 2008... On December 6, 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") issued its final rules ("New Rules") that reduce restrictions on unregistered resales of securities into the public markets. The New Rules amend Rule 144 to relax a number of...

Reminder-New Chinese Labor Contract Law.(interpretation of new chinese labor laws)
January 3, 2008... As we reported earlier this year, the PRC enacted sweeping new laws governing employment contracts. Those laws will become effective very soon. If you have operations and employees in China, you need to comply with the New Labor Contract Law...

U.S. Companies With Operations In Europe Must Comply With Data Protection Laws.
January 3, 2008... The European Union's approach to data privacy is completely alien to American companies. But, as a recent decision from the French data protection agency makes clear, an American company with operations in Europe that does not learn how to play...

New State Legislation Affecting California Employers In 2008.
January 3, 2008... The 2007 session of the California Legislature produced a number of new laws which will impact the state's private sector employers in the coming year. Below is an overview of those laws we view as most significant. The laws will become...

Ninth Circuit Panel Modifies Its Opinion In The Wal-Mart Gender Discrimination Class Action.(Case overview)
January 3, 2008... On December 11, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a modified opinion in the largest sex discrimination class action in United States history, Dukes v. Wal-Mart Inc., Case No. 04-16688. In Dukes, a split three-judge...

Washington Supreme Court Applies Gender Discrimination Analysis In Pregnancy Suit.(Case overview)
January 3, 2008... In its November 29, 2007 decision, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that an employer who refuses to hire a job applicant because of her pregnancy is liable for sex discrimination under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), absent...

Fixed Income Investors Promote Enhanced Covenants for Investment Grade Bonds.
January 3, 2008... A group of more than 50 fixed income investment managers, The Credit Roundtable, has just proposed a set of model covenants for investment grade bonds. The proposed model covenants are contained in a "White Paper" (available at...

2008 California Legislative Updates For Employers.
January 3, 2008... With the New Year, new legislative updates go into effect in California. Below is a summary of some of the newly enacted legislative updates for California employers in 2008. New Legislative Updates Computer Professional Exemption (SB...

NLRB Rules That Employers May Prohibit Employee Use Of Company E-mail Systems For Union Organizing.(National Labor Relations Board)
January 3, 2008... During the final days of 2007, the National Labor Relations Board added yet another significant ruling to a growing list of decisions that already had organized labor crying foul. In its long awaited decision in The Guard Publishing Company...

Alberta Securities Commission Declines To Cease-Trade Poison Pill Following Timely Shareholders Approval.
January 3, 2008... Article by Mark Adkins [c] 2007, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP Originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Mergers & Acquisitions, December 2007 Highlights: Rights plan upheld in absence of potential competing offers Key factor...

On the Road To New Fuel Efficiency Standards.(Environmental Protection Agency)
January 3, 2008... On December 19, 2007, the traffic on the regulatory highway of greenhouse gas emissions for new vehicles was congested on the state, federal, and international level. Stephen Johnson, the U.S. EPA Administrator, announced his agency would not...

Proposal Would Make Business Ethics Rules Mandatory For Companies.
January 3, 2008... The federal government has recently proposed a rule that, if it becomes final, will impose additional compliance obligations on most companies doing business with the federal government. On November 14, 2007, the Civilian Agency Acquisition...

Technical Amendments To SIFT Rules.(Scale-invariant feature transform )
January 3, 2008... Article by Paul Tamaki and Jeffrey Trossman [c] 2008, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP Originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Tax, January 2008 On December 20, 2007, the Canadian Government released legislative proposals to correct...

What Is GRC?(governance, risk and compliance)
January 3, 2008... Key Point A GRC framework does not simply centralise the governance, risk and compliance functions but seeks to integrate all relevant policies, processes, procedures and controls. Well-established governance, risk and compliance...

What Is Your Potential Liability For Costs If You Admit A Claim Before Or On Filing An Acknowledgment Of Service?(Case overview)
January 4, 2008... The issue before Mr Justice Akenhead in the case of Amber Construction Services Limited v London Interspace HG Limited [2007] EWHC 3042 (TCC) related to whether only fixed costs should be payable if a defendant admitted or paid the sum claimed...

Recent DOL Actions Increase Obligations of Service Providers.
January 4, 2008... Contents: Developments of Note Recent DOL Actions Increase Obligations of Service Providers FINRA Issues Final Guidance Regarding the Review and Supervision of Electronic Communications Developments of Note Recent DOL...

District Court Dismisses Antitrust Class Action Alleging That Broker/Dealers Charged Inflated Fees In Connection With Short Sale Transactions.(Case overview)
January 4, 2008... On December 20, 2007, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed federal antitrust claims asserted against 13 institutional broker/dealers, alleging that the financial institutions had acted in concert to...

Strike Out: Abuse Of Process.(interpretation of law on litigations)
January 4, 2008... Article by Peter Mansfield and Giles Tagg The Court of Appeal has recently considered the issue of strike out for abuse of process. At first instance WSP and Aspinwall succeeded in striking out a claim by Aldi on the grounds that the claim...

OFT Brings First Criminal Cartel Charges Against Individuals.(Office of Fair Trading)
January 4, 2008... On 19 December 2007 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced that three UK businessmen have been charged with criminal cartel offences under the Enterprise Act 2002. This is the first time that such charges have been brought since the...

Competition Commission Lifts SME Bank Price Controls.
January 4, 2008... On 21 December 2007 the Competition Commission confirmed its decision to lift temporary price controls imposed in 2003 on the UK's four largest banks that serve small and medium sized enterprises (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and RBS)....

Professional Practices Survey 2007 - An Appetite For Capital.(Report)
January 4, 2008... Originally published in Professional Practices News, December 2007 Following the changes introduced in the Legal Services Act, Giles Murphy looks at what Smith & Williamson's most recent survey tells us about law firms' attitude towards...

GST Alert (Commercial Real Estate Alert).(goods and services tax)
January 4, 2008... INTRODUCTION On January 1, 2008, the federal goods and services tax (GST) rate will drop from 6% to 5%. As the deadline approaches for yet another 1% GST rate reduction, many buyers, sellers and lessors of property have questions about the...

New Guidance On San Francisco Health Care Ordinance.
January 4, 2008... In 2006, San Francisco passed the Health Care Security Ordinance, which requires employers to provide health care coverage for employees working in San Francisco, or else pay a fee to the city. The Ordinance is scheduled to take effect on...

Recent FCC Actions Affecting Cable Television Systems, Programmers, And Broadcast Stations.
January 4, 2008... In this client advisory, Thelen reviews several recent FCC actions affecting cable television systems, cable programmers, and broadcast stations: Cable systems are required to provide subscribership information under the 70/70 rule to...

Remediation And Relaunch: Putting An Outsourcing Deal Back On Track.(management of outsourcing contracts)
January 4, 2008... Article by Kenneth Adler and Danny Ertel In this whitepaper, Kenneth Adler, a partner at Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner and Chair of the Outsourcing group, along with Danny Ertel, a founding partner of Vantage Partners and the head of...

Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act Clears Senate Committee Markup: Future Prospects Uncertain.
January 4, 2008... On December 5, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) favorably reported the S.2191, The Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, by an 11-8 vote. Committee Chair, Barbara Boxer (D-CA), was joined by all of the other...

Professional Practices Survey - Changing Times.
January 4, 2008... Originally published in Professional Practices News, December 2007 Tracing the trends and attitudes within the legal and property sectors, Simon Mabey analyses the results of our 13th annual survey of professional practices. This year,...

California Registry Announces New Emissions Trading Platform.
January 4, 2008... Offset trading platform will be built around strict baseline and certification requirements, in an effort to bring greater integrity to the emerging emissions markets. California is making significant progress in solidifying the emerging...

The First Shall Be Last: US Customs Proposal Would Broadly Increase Tariffs On US Imports.
January 4, 2008... Keywords: US Bureau of Customs, transaction value, series sale, first sale, last sale, tariffs, US tariff law, imports, US Imports, imported goods Originally published January 30, 2008 Article by Simeon Kriesberg , Sydney H. Mintzer...

Tackling Unsolicited Electronic Messages In Hong Kong.
January 4, 2008... Introduction Hong Kong like many other open economies is vulnerable to the problems caused by unsolicited electronic messages ("UEMs"). It is estimated that over 60% of all emails received in Hong Kong are UEMs and over 99% of the UEMs...

AML - A Compliance Update.(Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006)(Law overview)
January 4, 2008... Key Point Now that the final parts of the AML Act are in operation, businesses must be sure they comply. The implementation of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (the AML Act), which applies to...

Could Your Electronic Records End Up Sinking Your Business?
January 7, 2008... Originally published December 27, 2007 Does your business have an official policy for the retention and destruction of your electronic information? If not, it should. No business wants to be involved in a lawsuit under most normal...

The IP Year 2007 In Review: Focus On The UK.(Intellectual property)
January 7, 2008... Following our very successful The IP Year 2006 In Review,1 rated most popular Canadian article on the MONDAQ[R] website (www.mondaq.com) in February 2007, Fasken Martineau's Intellectual Property ("IP") Group is pleased to present The IP Year...

District Courts Continue To Enforce Draconian Interpretation Of California's Paycheck Law.
January 7, 2008... s. 212-enacted in 1910 to curb the abuses of the 'company town'-forbids California employers from paying wages by "check . . . unless it is negotiable and payable in cash, on demand, without discount, at some established place of business in...

Court Case Confirms 'Double Jeopardy' Rule Applies To Damages Payments.(Case overview)
January 7, 2008... A recent court case concerning a Midlands care worker and her employer, Wolverhampton City Council, has clarified a complex area of law regarding the payment of contractual benefits, such as sick pay, in cases of multiple claims. The...

Guernsey - A Private Equity Success Story.
January 7, 2008... Originally published in Investor Services Journal, December 2007. Since 2000 Guernsey has been growing its reputation as a leading private equity domicile. However, events of the past few weeks and months have really crystallised the fact...

Expert Witness 'Drought' To Hit Lenders In 2008.
January 7, 2008... Professional liability specialists at law firm Browne Jacobson are predicting a shortage of credible expert witnesses to defend against the raft of claims expected next year as the credit squeeze continues to affect financial and property...

U.S. Customs And Border Protection Issues Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking On 10+2 Importer Security Filing And Additional Carrier Requirements.
January 7, 2008... Article by Peter J. Battaglioli, David M. Dunbar, Eric R. Rock, David P. Sanders, Benjamin H. Shanbaum and Mark S. Zolno On January 2, 2008, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking entitled "Importer...

New Rules Permit 2% Shareholder-Employee To Deduct Employer-Paid Accident And Health Premiums And Reimbursements.
January 7, 2008... While many employees are eligible to exclude contributions made by an employer for accident and health insurance premium payments or reimbursements from gross income, 2% percent shareholder-employees of S corporations are not considered...

NLRB Rules That Employers May Implement A Corporate E-Mail Policy That Has The Effect Of Barring Union-Related Communications.(National Labor Relations Board)
January 7, 2008... In a highly anticipated decision, a sharply divided National Labor Relations Board ruled by a vote of 3-2 that employers may prohibit employee use of a company's e-mail system for nonwork solicitations, including union-related solicitations....

Employers Must Use Newly Amended I-9 Form To Verify Employment Eligibility.
January 7, 2008... A revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9) is now available for use by employers. The revised form contains an updated list of acceptable identity and employment authorization documents. Employers must use the revised version of...

Whither Foreign Investment in Canada? - The First Shoe Drops.
January 7, 2008... In our October 2007 Bulletin, we reported that the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry, had announced in a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade that he intended to deal with the issue of national security in the context of foreign...

One To Watch: MacKinnon v. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board.(Case overview)
January 7, 2008... The Ontario Court of Appeal has released its decision in MacKinnon v. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board. While ultimately the decision means only that the issues are headed to trial, the Court of Appeal made some comments regarding...

Climate Change Regulation Creeps Into Omnibus Spending Bill.(Environmental Protection Agency)
January 7, 2008... Originally published December 21, 2007 In an unexpected development, the U.S. Senate recently passed legislation with a requirement for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to create a greenhouse gas emissions registry for...

DOL Proposes New ERISA Disclosure Requirements For Plan Service Providers.(Department of Labor)
January 7, 2008... Originally published December 13, 2007 On December 13, 2007, the Department of Labor proposed new disclosure and related requirements under ERISA for certain service providers to employee benefit plans. This is the second of three...

OTS Authorizes Federal Savings Bank To Establish A Subsidiary Bank In China January 2008.(Office of Thrift Supervision)(GE Money Bank)
January 7, 2008... On December 6, 2007, the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) approved the application of GE Money Bank, a federal savings bank headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, to establish an operating subsidiary in the People's Republic of China that...

Finland Cleared Of State Aid Investigation Regarding The Liberalisation Of Road Construction Market.(Borenius & Kemppinen)
January 7, 2008... Borenius & Kemppinen successfully represented the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications in the European Commission's formal state aid investigation regarding the liberalisation of the Finnish road construction market. The...

Cost-Effective Patent Actions.
January 7, 2008... Patent litigation has long had a reputation for being expensive. As Lord Esher said in Ungar v Sugg in 1892: "A man had better have his patent infringed, or have anything happen to him in this world, short of losing all his family, than...

"Opt-In" Or Lose Out!(Intellectual Property Office )
January 7, 2008... From 1 October 2007 the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO)1 will no longer automatically refuse to register a new mark where it conflicts with an earlier mark already on the Trade Marks Register. Instead it will notify both the applicant...

Guernsey - Staying Ahead Of The Game.(finance companies)
January 7, 2008... Originally published on www.EUBankers.net, December 2007 This time last year I was looking back over the tremendous achievements of the Island's finance industry in 2006. Given those successes and the positive start to this year, it...

Elimination Of Withholding Tax On Conventional Interest Payments To Arm's Length Non-Residents.(amendments to the Income Tax Act)
January 7, 2008... On December 14, 2007, amendments to the Income Tax Act (Canada) were enacted into law that will eliminate Canadian withholding tax on conventional interest payments made to arm's length non-residents of Canada beginning in the new year. In the...

Doing Business In Canada.
January 7, 2008... No decision to establish or invest in a business abroad should be made without a basic understanding of the legal framework in which the business will operate. The following broad overview of the Canadian legal environment will help the...

Can Competition Regulate Rates For Basic Services?
January 8, 2008... By Harold Ware1 INTRODUCTION Few states have deregulated basic telephone service. The underlying rationale seems to be the concern that subsets of the population-e.g., people subscribing only to plain old telephone service (POTS), or...

Warning To New Jersey Employers: New WARN Notice Obligations In New Jersey And High Costs For Failure To Comply.
January 8, 2008... On December 20, 2007, New Jersey became the 16th state to enact a plant closing law modeled after the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. section 2100 et seq.) ("Fed WARN"), when Governor Jon Corzine signed into...

Congress Approves Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP Changes.(State Children's Health Insurance Program )
January 8, 2008... Act averts 10.1 percent reduction in Medicare payments to physicians, extends SCHIP. In one of its final acts before adjourning for the year, Congress approved a modest bill (S.2499) that averts a 10.1 percent reduction in Medicare...

SEC Eases Restrictions On Resale Of Restricted Securities.
January 8, 2008... On December 7, 2007, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued final rules amending existing Rules 144 and 145 under the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act).1 The revisions are intended to increase the liquidity of privately...

Hundreds Of Hospitals Subject To New EPA Rule Governing Air Emissions From Ethylene Oxide Sterilizers.
January 8, 2008... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new rule on December 28, 2007, which applies to hospitals with ethylene oxide sterilization facilities. 72 FR 73611. Under the federal Clean Air Act, ethylene oxide is considered a...

Notice by Related Entity Triggers Damages; Even Numerical Ranges Have Equivalent.
January 8, 2008... Addressing the issues of adequacy of notice under s. 287(a) and application of doctrine of equivalents to claims having numerical ranges, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit relaxed the strict requirement that s. 287 notice be...

Maryland Legislation Requires Corporate Taxpayers To Bare It All.
January 8, 2008... With today's energy costs, most corporations no doubt would have preferred a lump of coal to the latest Maryland tax legislation. Unlike the Grinch and Scrooge, the Maryland General Assembly apparently was not overcome by the holiday spirit in...

The Convenience Of Incorporating By Reference May Have Inconvenient Consequences: Walking The "Judicial Tightrope".
January 8, 2008... Finding that continuity of disclosure was not maintained throughout a chain of related patents, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a district court's previous holding that the patent at issue was entitled to the benefit...

Michigan Repeals Services Tax In The Nick Of Time.
January 8, 2008... Unlike in Maryland, the Michigan Legislature apparently was affected by the holiday spirit as they repealed the use tax on services in the Nick of time! The unpopular HB 5198 imposed the state's 6% use tax on the use or consumption of a variety...

$160 Million Jury Verdict Against Microsoft Stands After Unsuccessful Challenge.
January 8, 2008... Letting stand a $160 million judgment against Microsoft, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently affirmed a jury verdict finding that Microsoft willfully infringed Z4 Technologies' patents relating to methods for preventing...

Investment Fund Will Pay $1.1 Million Civil Penalty for Increasing Its Stake In Portfolio Companies Without First Complying With Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Pre-Merger Notification Requirements.
January 8, 2008... ValueAct Capital Partners, L.P. and its affiliates ("ValueAct") will pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million pursuant to a complaint and stipulated judgment filed December 19, 2007, at the request of the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), by the...

Floodgates Reopen: Injunction Halting California's Unclaimed Property Program Lifted.
January 8, 2008... The Federal Court for the Eastern District of California recently lifted its injunction, freeing the California State Controller to resume collecting and selling unclaimed property. 1 In light of effective August 24, 2007 amending the state's...

FINRA Seeks To Delay The Effective Date Of The Principal Review Provisions Of Its New Variable Annuity Sales Rule And Suggests That Further Review May Be Warranted.(Financial Industry Regulatory Authority )
January 8, 2008... On December 21, 2007, FINRA filed a proposed rule change with the SEC seeking to delay until August 4, 2008, the effective date of the principal review provisions of its new variable annuity sales rule, 2821.1 According to the recent filing,...

New "Revenue Sharing" Class Certification.
January 8, 2008... Originally published December 6, 2007 A federal district court this week certified a class of former, current, and future 401(k) Plan participants in Tussey v. ABB, Inc., No. 2:06-04305-CV-NKL (W.D. Mo.) (originally filed as Kennedy v. ABB,...

New Year, New Employment Laws.
January 8, 2008... Compensation Limits The limit on a week's pay increases from [pounds sterling]310 to [pounds sterling]330 and the maximum unfair dismissal compensatory award rises from [pounds sterling]60,600 to [pounds sterling]63,000. The new limits...

OFT Uses De Minimis Merger Exception For The First Time.(Office of Fair Trading )
January 8, 2008... The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has confirmed that it has used the "de minimis" exception in deciding not to refer two mergers to the Competition Commission (CC). This is the first time the de minimis exception has been used following the...

Proskauer Rose International Practice Group Forecasts 2008 Trends And Developments.
January 8, 2008... Firm Outlines Top Issues in Litigation, Regulation, and Business Law Facing Businesses Operating Globally January 7, 2008 (New York, NY) - The International Practice Group of Proskauer Rose LLP, an international law firm with more than 750...

Threats Of IP Infringement And The Amendments To S70 Patents Act.(Intellectual property )
January 8, 2008... Introduction & statutory framework Lord Justice Bowen observed in Skinner v Shew [1893] that the result of a threat of a patent infringement action was "to paralyse a man in his trade by having an action on a patent suspended before his...

Swimming Pools - The Need For Clear Fencing Guidelines.(Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987)
January 8, 2008... As summer approaches, many Kiwis will seek cool relief from the heat by plunging into their household swimming pools. But tragically, according to statistics, every year 4 to 5 children drown, and 35 to 45 more are seriously injured in pools....

Governor Schwarzenegger Takes The EPA To Court.
January 8, 2008... Governor Schwarzenegger has found a new predator invading his turf, and he has taken to the courts to defeat it. California, along with 15 other states and five environmental groups, recently petitioned the Ninth Circuit for review of the...