Peanut Butter. Cantaloupe. Ice cream. What do these seemingly disparate foods have in common? They have all been the source of an outbreak of food poisoning in the United States over the last decade. Over the next several months, the FDA will be releasing a series of new regulations that will represent a seismic shift towards prevention in the regulation of food safety. This article summarizes the seven major new regulations and other related developments. 

In response to the European public consultation on investment dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS) the European Commission issued a concept paper where it expressed its further ideas on the reform of ISDS.  While the big political players like the EU or the US are further discussing and negotiating on Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the question on what position should be adopted by the smaller EU member states becomes more important, too, particularly taking into account such radical EU proposals like the idea of new institutionalized international investment court. This article puts into discussion the main advantages and disadvantages of ISDS and the EU ideas on ISDS reform emphasizing the need for more intensive debate between smaller EU member states on this issue. 

The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division may be widening the scope of its federal investigation of potential antitrust violations in the generic drug industry following sharp increases in the costs of numerous generic drugs.
 

This article discusses the law currently governing each of the three categories of permissible civilian unmanned aircraft operations: (1) model aircraft flights; (2) public use by national, state, and local government agencies; and (3) commercial operations as currently limited by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Establishing a business from scratch is not always necessary - if capital for investment is available, the first stage may be skipped, and an existing company or business may be acquired; the following rules will help you avoid mistakes that may cost you a fortune.

Since the Spanish Penal Code's reform back in 2010, companies have been working on their criminal risk management programs. To be really effective, such programs need professionals who know such internal regulations to guarantee strict compliance inside the company: the Compliance Officer. Said Compliance Officer must manage all the company's legal risks and will be the one in charge of handling the information and investigation tasks regarding the compliance of the company's regulations. Within such internal regulations, the Compliance Officer may request access to all technological resources provided by the company. May the Compliance Officer access such resources at his own will? May he access the email box of the employees without any limitation? May he check the hard drive of the computers of the employees? May he record conversations within the company? Although there is not an undisputable answer to all these questions, there are indeed several key points that always must be followed.

As part of the Australian Government's commitment to reducing red tape and signalling to the world that Australia is open for business, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) recently widened the exemption from various Australian prospectus and other fundraising requirements in respect of employee incentive schemes that are offered to Australian resident employees.  The Australian Federal Government has also proposed changes to the taxation of employee incentive schemes to encourage employee share ownership and entrepreneurship in Australia.  The changes will complement ASIC's updated policy in relation to share incentive schemes by helping to minimise the costs and complexity for companies of implementing and maintaining incentive schemes.

This article calls for the regulation and harmonisation of the so-called "collaborative economy" based on the "peer-to-peer culture" ensuring the protection of consumer rights against potential scams and abuses while, at the same time, rejecting the temptation of over-regulating or "de facto" banning the emerging models of collaborative economy.

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With air passenger traffic in Africa on the continued upsurge and existing carriers seeking to develop their fleets whilst lowering costs to maintain a global competitive edge, the number of aircraft finance and leasing transactions has also increased. This article discusses the Kenyan regulatory framework and highlights salient considerations for any potential investor with regard to the ownership, the financing or leasing of an aircraft, the registration formalities, tax concerns and the  realization and enforcement of a security interest in the event of default or insolvency.

A New York Federal judge provides guidelines to plaintiffs' counsel regarding reaching out to potential class members through social media. Counsel may reach out via social media when email and mailing addresses are unknown.

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The U.S. Department of Justice has just issued a "best practices" document to help everyone prepare for, respond to and recover from a cybersecurity intrusion or data breach. These best practices urge companies to immediately develop actionable data breach response plans with the assistance of outside resources such as law enforcement, experienced legal counsel and forensic firms.  The best practices do not replace current legal requirements but it is important guidance for everyone with access to electronic data.   

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In this article, the authors discuss proposed regulations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regarding employer-provided wellness programs that were published in the Federal Register on April 20, 2015. The proposed regulations are intended to reconcile rules under the ADA with rules the tri-agency task force1 previously issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), as amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), finally giving employers clear guidance as to how to design wellness programs without running afoul of these laws. In related actions, on April 16, 2015 the tri-agency task force issued two Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding wellness programs and two divisions of HHS issued FAQs on wellness issues related to HIPAA privacy and PPACA market reforms.

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In this article, the authors discuss the IRS updates to its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). EPCRS allows plan sponsors to correct many documentary and operational errors that otherwise might jeopardize a plan's tax-qualified status through one of three programs: the Self-Correction Program (SCP), the Voluntary Correction Program (VCP) or the Audit Closing Agreement Program (Audit CAP).

Workplace policies are often used by employers as a flexible tool for outlining employment processes or benefits available to employees.  It is vital that employers be aware of the potential risk and consequences of workplace policies being incorporated into employment contracts and how this can be avoided.

A federal appeals court panel has interpreted California Business and Professions Code Section 16600 to bar "no-employment" contract terms that prevent a former employee from working for the former employer or any entity in contract with the former employer. California employers who include no-employment provisions in their severance or settlement agreements with former employees should take caution when including such terms to avoid challenge under Section 16600.  Provisions that allow an employer to terminate employment if a former employee is found to later be employed by a contractor or a company acquired by the employer may be deemed overly restrictive based on this ruling and may result in a void agreement.

Employers often erroneously assume that a contractual provision which stipulates choice of law (meaning which law will apply to the interpretation of the agreement) is determinative of jurisdiction. A recent Canadian employment law decision confirms that jurisdiction is in fact distinct from choice of law. As a result there may be an ability to challenge an attempt to proceed on jurisdiction notwithstanding the fact that the applicable law chosen in the agreement is where one party is attempting to litigate. Close review and drafting of contract terms is therefore essential.

The new Slovak Act on whistleblowing, which aims to protect employees who report wrongdoing from retaliation came into force on 1 January 2015. Under the new rules certain employers must implement a specific mechanism within 6 months. Temporary leasing of employees which is quite common in Slovak practice and used mainly to ensure flexibility as regards workforce needs has had to deal with the new rules since 1 March 2015. Under this law certain categories of service providers can also be affected and a review of contracts in the light of the new rules is highly recommended.

This article analyzes recent NLRB actions, including new "quickie" election rules and recent Board decisions addressing "micro" bargaining units and access to employers' e-mail systems that make it easier for unions to organize and win representation elections.  It suggests' how employers may respond.

On April 8, 2015, the Energy Regulatory Commission issued the general administrative provisions establishing the terms to submit information concerning specific aspects of power generation projects, as well as the application format for electricity generation permits, aimed to establish the general terms and conditions on which obligations of submission of information before the Energy Regulatory Commission will be met.

D.C. Court ruling puts to rest petitioners' requests that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's order approving Dominion's construction of a natural gas compressor in Maryland be vacated. The FERC is not in violation of the Natural Gas Act or Clean Air Act by approving the project and construction will continue as planned.
  

A new beginning for venture capital and private equity entities in Spain.  No more hurdles for commercialization in Spain under the EU Passport and other financing alternatives for SMEs

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The increase in transparency, access to public information and the rules of good governance will allow the general public to participate in the decision-making process regarding public matters or finding out how public funds are managed. The Act on Transparency, Access to Public Information and Good Governance represents significant progress in this field and establishes standards comparable to those of other consolidated democracies.

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Many U.S.-based hotel brands are seeking growth opportunities abroad, particularly in emerging markets locations.  Such opportunities may come in the form of development of new hotels or in the rebranding of existing hotels.  This article examines some of the major issues that a hotel owner, investor or developer outside of the U.S. may encounter in negotiating a management or franchise deal for its hotel project with a U.S. hotel brand.

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In the In Re Cuozzo Speed Technologies LLC, 14-1301 (Feb. 4, 2015) matter on appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, held in a 2-1 panel decision in a case of first impression that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), part of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), regarding the initiation of inter partes review proceedings (IPR), even on appeal from a final written decision.  Moreover, the Federal Circuit reaffirmed the "broadest reasonable interpretation" standard for claim construction used by the PTAB.  Subsequently, Cuozzo filed a petition for Rehearing En Banc (before a full panel of the Federal Circuit) of the earlier 3-judge panel decision, arguing that the panel was wrong to support the PTAB in construing the claims of patents in IPR reviews using the broadest reasonable interpretation standard.  During oral argument held in April 2015, the Solicitor of the USPTO argued in response that the 3-judge panel correctly recognized that the USPTO has applied the broadest reasonable interpretation standard for over 100 years with the approval of the federal courts.

Owners of the devices enabling communication of copyrighted work to public should be aware of the attitude adopted by the Czech Constitutional Court in its recent decision regarding activities of copyright collecting societies. The assessment of whether an entity is required to pay royalties is often carried out by those societies in contradiction to the standards required by law and therefore in many individual cases copyright collecting societies often overstep their competencies and gain unjust enrichment.      
 

The .SUCKS top-level-domain (TLD) is available for domain name purchase and registration, and companies are weighing the costs of registering their brands and corporate names during the .SUCKS gtld Sunrise Period versus waiting for the general registration period when the .SUCKS domain names become significantly cheaper.  The standard price for a .SUCKS domain name during the Sunrise Period is $2,499, compared to registration costs as low as $10 when general availability launches on June 1, 2015. Companies should strongly consider paying the price during the Sunrise Period, as ACPA (Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act) and ICANN panels applying the UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) may rule that all .SUCKS domain names are protected under the First Amendment and refuse to transfer these domain names to trademark owners.

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Recovering damages through litigation can be a protracted process at the best of times. This problem is compounded when the defendant adopts a strategy of obstruction and delay. Increasingly Canadian courts are changing the equation by using compound interest in a variety of ways to remove the economic incentive to delay.

How do you settle a class action?  Giving the growing number of cross-border class actions, are the case resolution procedures different across the 49th parallel?  How do you enforce those settlements when there is no "full faith and credit" protection for American judgments in Canada, and Vice-Versa? These, and other questions, are answered in this article.

The recent upholding by the Supreme Court of Canada of the Quebec Superior Court's decision in Charest v. Dessau Inc. confirms that taxpayers generally do not have standing to institute class action proceedings in the context of anticompetitive schemes conducted by firms offering supplies or services to governmental agencies. In this case, the applicant, a taxpayer and resident of the City of Montreal, failed to demonstrate a sufficient interest as well as any direct or personal damages resulting from the respondents' alleged participation in collusive and anticompetitive practices with respect to public procurement contracts.

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On April 27, 2015, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case that will address the issue of a whether Congress can confer standing to sue on a plaintiff who has not suffered any actual harm besides the violation of a statute itself.  If the Supreme Court limits Congress's power to create standing, it could drastically limit lawsuits, including class actions, where a plaintiff seeks statutory damages for the violation of a statute without demonstrating any actual, concrete harm.

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On Thursday 26 March 2015, the controversial data retention or 'metadata' law was passed by the Australian Senate with bipartisan support. In this article, we discuss implications of these new laws in relation to privacy obligations and the imminent arrival of a mandatory data breach notification scheme.

Action Item 15 of the BEPS project is to develop a multilateral instrument to modify the bilateral network of income tax treaties, which is composed of over 3000 such treaties. As the multilateral instrument will implement the treaty-related provisions of the other BEPS action plans, it necessarily would be the last action item to be implemented.

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In this article, the authors discuss the ongoing saga over Colorado's use tax reporting laws in Direct Marketing Association v. Brohl (DMA), in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ordered a full briefing on the Comity Doctrine and the Commerce Clause on April 13. The outcome of this case could have broad implications for states and taxpayers seeking to apply constitutional nexus limitations to state taxation.

Mauritius strengthens its position as the ideal platform for investment in Africa following the coming into operation of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements and Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements with the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Taxpayers engaged in oil-drilling services in Mexico face adverse tax consequences after an unfavorable ruling by the Mexican Supreme Court, which establishes a lower percentage for the deduction of rigs and other related fixed assets used for providing oil-drilling services.

After being questioned by the Mexican tax authorities, this ruling assimilates the tax treatment of such fixed assets to any other machinery not listed on the Mexican Income Tax Law thus generating an adverse tax impact. Based on this ruling, Federal Courts pending to solve similar matters must rule based on the technical analysis and conclusions reached by the Supreme Court.

According to recently issued guidance from the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"), enforcement of the Affordable Care Act's ("ACA") market reforms will be delayed for certain small employers that pay for individual health insurance policies for their employees. Notice 2015-17 reiterates that these arrangements constitute group health plans that fail to satisfy applicable ACA market reforms but recognizes that some small employers utilizing these arrangements may need additional time to transition to compliant group health coverage or find a suitable alternative. Accordingly, the IRS has extended limited relief to these employers in the circumstances specified in the Notice. Similar relief has been extended to S corporations that pay for individual health insurance policies for their 2% owners. Moreover, the Notice prescribes the conditions under which employers that pay for Medicare and TRICARE premiums may satisfy these ACA market reform requirements. The details of this relief and the other issues covered by Notice 2015-17 are set forth below
 

From the newly published 2015 activity plan ("aktivitetsplan for 2015"), it is evident that medium-sized, large businesses and multinational groups are still a focus area of the Danish Tax Authorities.

A proposed amendment requires EU Member States to report all cross-border tax rulings and issued advance pricing arrangements to the Commission every three months. If adopted, the proposal would apply to all future rulings and pricing arrangements as well as all rulings and pricing arrangements issued within the last ten years that are still in force.

The e-cigarettes market has witnessed unprecedented growth over the past few years, but it remains unclear whether they are a safer alternative to smoking. There is much debate on this point. It is argued that more regulation of this industry is required to protect the consumer. The growth of e-cigarettes presents a challenge and potential opportunity to the insurance industry.