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Public Policy
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June 05, 2024
USPTO Fee Hike Finds Ally In Google, But Others Have Gripes
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's plan to increase many patent-related fees beginning next year has received support from Google, but dozens of other comments came from patent litigators of all stripes who argue that the proposal is a bad idea.
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June 05, 2024
Google Cleared From Suit Over Animal Abuse YouTube Videos
A California appeals panel has tossed a nonprofit's suit alleging that Google LLC breached its contract by allowing animal abuse videos on YouTube, saying Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act blocks all its claims.
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June 05, 2024
Ill. Budget Has Higher Cap On NOLs, Sports Betting Tax Hike
Illinois will extend a cap on corporate net operating loss deductions, increase its sports betting tax and reduce sales tax rebates for retailers under a $53.1 billion fiscal year 2025 budget signed Wednesday by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
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June 05, 2024
Utah Tribe Wants 'Depleting' State Water Contract Drained
Utah entered into a water contract with the U.S. Department of the Interior without properly considering the Ute Indian Tribe's water rights, the tribe told a federal court in a request to set aside the deal.
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June 05, 2024
Biden Asylum Halt Contradicts Border Wire Suit, Texas Says
Texas tore into the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, saying a new executive order that halts asylum claims from immigrants who cross the border illegally directly contradicts the agency's argument before the Fifth Circuit over Texas' use of concertina wire fencing at the border.
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June 05, 2024
Exceptions May Help New Border Rules Survive Litigation
The new border regime that President Joe Biden rolled out this week relies on legal provisions that courts largely barred the Trump administration from using to restrict entry, but exceptions in Biden's policy could offer insulation from adverse rulings this time.
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June 05, 2024
Ga. Panel Sides With State In County Fire Contract Fight
A Georgia Court of Appeals panel on Wednesday backed the state's Department of Behavioral Health in a dispute over a fire-protection services contract with a county government, ruling the department couldn't be held liable for canceling the contract because it has no statutory power to enter into it.
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June 05, 2024
House Votes To Block Vets' Access To Gender-Affirming Care
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a $147.5 billion spending bill along mostly party lines funding military construction and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which would block veterans' access to gender-affirming care and which the White House has already threatened to veto.
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June 05, 2024
FCC Looking Into Reports Of AT&T Wireless Service Outage
The Federal Communications Commission said it is trying to find out what happened when AT&T wireless customers lost service in several states Tuesday due to what the company described as an interoperability problem.
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June 05, 2024
Colo. To Exempt Modular Homes From Sales Tax
Colorado will exempt new modular home sales from state tax under a bill signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis.
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June 05, 2024
New Rule Bars Self-Certification As Disabled, Vet-Owned Biz
The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a rule Wednesday effectively barring federal contractors from self-certifying as service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, or SDVOSBs, amid ongoing concerns about fraud in veteran-owned contracting programs.
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June 05, 2024
CFPB Opens Door To Open Banking 'Standard Setters'
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made more progress Wednesday in its efforts to lay the groundwork for open banking in the U.S., adopting a mechanism that will allow "open" and "balanced" organizations to begin setting official, industry-wide technical standards for financial data sharing.
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June 05, 2024
4th Circ. Says SC Agency Must Give Google Ad Docs
A South Carolina agency must respond to Google's document request after the Fourth Circuit ruled Wednesday that the state waived its sovereign immunity by joining a case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing key digital advertising technology.
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June 05, 2024
Epic Accuses Apple Of Stalling Antitrust Doc Production
Epic Games accused Apple Inc. at a hearing Wednesday of dragging its feet on producing internal documents that a California federal judge recently ordered the tech giant to hand over to help decide if Apple complied with her ban on App Store anti-steering rules.
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June 05, 2024
Trump Gag Order Still Needed Through Sentencing, DA Says
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office has asked a judge not to lift the gag order on Donald Trump before the convicted former president's sentencing next month, arguing in a letter released Wednesday that there is still a need to "protect the integrity" of the hush money case.
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June 05, 2024
Ga. Trump Election Case On Hold For DA DQ Appeal
The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday temporarily halted proceedings in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants while it reviews a trial judge's ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis to continue prosecuting the case.
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June 05, 2024
Feds Say $1B Power Line Permit Challenge Should Be Zapped
The Biden administration and developers of a proposed $1 billion transmission line that would ship hydropower from Quebec to New England are urging a federal judge to dump challenges to federal approvals for the project, saying there's no question they were lawfully issued.
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June 05, 2024
NY Gov. Indefinitely Halts Manhattan Congestion Pricing
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday shelved congestion pricing just weeks before officials were set to implement a fee for vehicles entering Manhattan's busiest corridor, in a dramatic about-face following intense backlash and litigation from residents and business owners grappling with the high cost of living.
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June 05, 2024
After Judge Takes Trip To Israel, Attys Want Him Off Gaza Case
Palestinian rights activists asked a Ninth Circuit judge to recuse himself from a case claiming that the Biden administration flouted international laws barring genocide by supporting Israel's military efforts in Gaza, noting that the judge recently took a trip to Israel sponsored by the World Jewish Congress.
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June 05, 2024
'Miracle Worker': Menendez's Wife Was Given New Car, Jurors Told
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's wife received a $67,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible thanks to the efforts of two of the congressman's associates, one of whom she called a "miracle worker," jurors heard Wednesday in the government's bribery case in New York federal court.
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June 05, 2024
From Small Town To 11th Circ., Nominee Pledges 'Open Mind'
A nominee for an Eleventh Circuit seat on Wednesday discussed his small-town upbringing, award-winning career as a prosecutor and the "obligation" he feels to be a role model for others considering a career in the law, saying he would approach cases with an "open mind" if confirmed to the federal appeals court.
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June 05, 2024
NY Cannabis Head Looks Ahead Following Critical Audit
The chair of New York's cannabis regulatory body told stakeholders Wednesday at a marijuana business expo that the agency was working to streamline its operations following an investigative audit ordered by the governor's office that blasted the office for inefficiencies.
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June 05, 2024
3rd Circ. Debates Length Of Breaks In $7M Wage Case
A Third Circuit panel tried on Wednesday to pin down when the U.S. Department of Labor and an in-home care agency believed that employees were off-duty or just traveling between jobs, and whether the company's lack of travel-time records left it open to a $7 million judgment based on government estimates.
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June 05, 2024
FTC Can't Pause Novant's $320M Bid To Buy NC Hospitals
The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday lost its bid to block Novant Health from buying two local hospitals in North Carolina for $320 million while it conducts an in-house review, with a federal judge reasoning that competition would actually fare better if the merger advanced.
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June 05, 2024
Public Input On EEOC/NLRB Memo A Must, US Rep. Says
A coming joint memorandum from the nation's federal discrimination and labor law watchdogs addressing when workplace speech qualifies as unlawful harassment should be opened to public comment before being published, the Republican chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee said.
Expert Analysis
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Protecting IP May Be Tricky Without Noncompetes
Contrary to the Federal Trade Commission's view, trade secret law cannot replace noncompetes' protection of proprietary information because intellectual property includes far more than just trade secrets, so businesses need to closely examine their IP protection options, say Aimee Fagan and Ching-Lee Fukuda at Sidley.
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Regulating Resurrected Species Under The ESA
As the prospect of extinct species being resurrected from DNA and reintroduced into the wild grows closer, an analysis of the Endangered Species Act suggests that it could provide a thoughtful, flexible governance framework for such scenarios, say Caroline Meadows and Shelby Bobosky at the SMU Dedman School of Law.
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A Look At FERC's Plan To End Reactive Power Compensation
A recent notice of proposed rulemaking indicates that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is likely to eliminate compensation for reactive power within the standard power factor range — causing significant impacts for the electric power industry, which relies on income from providing this service, say Norman Bay and Matthew Goldberg at Willkie and Vivian Chum at Wright & Talisman.
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How FTC's Noncompete Rule May Affect Exec Comp Packages
In the event the Federal Trade Commission's final noncompete rule goes into effect as currently contemplated, companies will need to take stock of how they structure post-employment executive compensation arrangements, such as severance agreements and clawbacks, says Meredith O'Leary at King & Spalding.
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Action Steps To Address New Restrictions On Outbound Data
Companies should immediately assess all their data-based operations so they can consider strategies to effectively mitigate new compliance risks brought on by recently implemented transaction restrictions, including a Justice Department proposal and landmark data legislation, say attorneys at Wiley.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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CFPB Reality Check: Video Game Cash Is Still Money
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent report examining payments within online video games indicates that financial services offered within the game marketplace are quickly evolving to the point where they are indistinguishable from traditional financial services subject to regulation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking
With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.
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5 Takeaways From FDA's Biosimilars Promotion Guidance
New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expands upon other recent efforts to clarify expectations for biosimilar and interchangeable labeling, highlighting a number of potential missteps that could draw attention from regulators, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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The Legal Issues Raised In Minn. Rate Exportation Opt-Out Bill
A recent Minnesota House bill would amend state law by opting out of the federal interest rate preemption and introduce several legal gray areas if passed, including issues regarding loan location, rates on credit card loans and values of state charters, says Karen Grandstrand at Fredrikson & Byron.
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Rebuttal
Time For Congress To Let Qualified Older Pilots Keep Flying
While a previous Law360 guest article affirmed the current law requiring airline pilots to retire at age 65, the facts suggest that the pilots, their unions, the airlines and the flying public will all benefit if Congress allows experienced, medically qualified aviators to stay in the cockpit, say Allen Baker and Bo Ellis at Let Experienced Pilots Fly.
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Does Expert Testimony Aid Preliminary IPR Responses?
Dechert attorneys analyze six years of patent owners' preliminary responses to inter partes review petitions to determine whether the elimination of the presumption favoring the petitioner as to preinstitution testimonial evidence affected the usefulness of expert testimony in responses.
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Fostering Employee Retention Amid Shaky DEI Landscape
Ongoing challenges to the legality of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs are complicating efforts to use DEI as an employee retention tool, but with the right strategic approach employers can continue to recruit and retain diverse talent — even after the FTC’s ban on noncompetes, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.
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Are Concessions In FDA's Lab-Developed Tests Rule Enough?
Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new policy for laboratory-developed tests included major strategic concessions to help balance patient safety, access and diagnostic innovation, the new rule may well face significant legal challenges in court, say Dominick DiSabatino and Audrey Mercer at Sheppard Mullin.
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5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow
The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.