International

Department of Labor Says Employers Are Not Required to Pay Tipped Employees the Full Minimum Wage for Non-Tipped Activities (US)

By Melissa Legault & Laura Lawless Robertson on February 19, 2019

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), employers are required to pay non-exempt employees a minimum hourly wage of $7.25. However, employers with “tipped employees” are able to pay such employees a cash wage of $2.13 per hour and take a “tip credit” toward their minimum wage obligation to make up the difference between the cash wage and the federal minimum wage. Importantly, the FLSA differentiates between tipped employees who perform “dual tasks,” such as…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

CSBS Releases Action Items to Improve Regulation of Nonbank Financial Services Companies

By Justin Long (US) & Richard Potomac (US) on February 19, 2019

On February 14, 2019, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (“CSBS”) announced several actions that it would be taking to modernize and harmonize state licensing, regulation, and supervision of non-depository financial institutions, including mortgage lenders, money services businesses, and consumer finance companies. The announcement came in response to a list of recommendations issued by the CSBS Fintech Industry Advisory Panel (the “Panel”). The Panel, which was formed in 2017 as part of CSBS’s “Vision 2020”…

Trump and Trade

Consolidated Appropriations Act for Funding the Government Includes Requirements for Sections 232 and 301 Tariff Exclusion Processes

By TH International Trade on February 19, 2019

On February 15, 2019, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (Act) that fully funds the government for the remainder of the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2019. With Congress and the president agreeing on these appropriations, a second partial government shutdown was averted. Included in the Act is a provision authorizing additional funding for the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to support the Section 232 steel and aluminum…

Israel Global Gateway

False Claims Act – Year in Review: 2018

By Israel Group on February 19, 2019

One month into 2019, we can look back on 2018 as a year of shifting enforcement policies and continuing jurisprudential uncertainty in the wake of Escobar. In 2018, False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries by the Department of Justice totaled $2.8 billion – a considerable decrease in recoveries from the more than $3.4 billion in total recoveries in 2017 and the more than $4.9 billion in total recoveries in 2016. Industry-specific data reflect recoveries holding steady…

Global IP & Technology Law Blog

The Federal Circuit Continues to Narrow the Eligibility Standards for CBM Review of Patents Under the AIA

By Christopher Adams on February 19, 2019

In its recent ruling in IBG LLC v. Trading Techs. Int’l, the Federal Circuit vacated determinations by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) on patents relating to a graphical user interface (“GUI“), holding that the patents were “not … technological inventions” and were therefore ineligible for Covered Business Method Patent Review (“CBM review”). The petitioners challenged the validity of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,766,304, 6,772,132, 7,676,411, and 7,813,996 (the “Asserted Patents”) via multiple CBM…

Global Policy Watch

USPTO INCREASES FOCUS ON DIVERSITY IN PATENTING WITH NEW REPORT ON WOMEN INVENTORS

By Holly Fechner & Matthew Shapanka on February 19, 2019

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (“USPTO”) Office of the Chief Economist released a new report last week examining women inventor trends in the United States from 1976 to 2016. The study showed that only 21 percent of U.S. patents granted during that 40-year period include at least one woman listed as an inventor. Despite growing rates of women earning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (“STEM”) degrees, and increasing participation rates among women in nearly…

Immigration Blog

Slow Immigration Processing Times Draw Criticism and Questions

By Maggie Murphy on February 19, 2019

Immigration case processing times have dramatically increased in the last few years, impacting U.S. businesses and immigrant families, often causing gaps in work authorization and even loss of employment. In a January 2019 Policy Brief, AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) opined, on the basis of USCIS data, that the Agency’s processing delays had reached “crisis levels under the Trump Administration,” noting that: [t]hese ballooning delays leave families—including families with U.S. citizen spouses and children—in…

Canada-U.S. Blog

Why Are My Goods Being Inspected?

By Susan Kohn Ross on February 19, 2019

Originally published by the Journal of Commerce in February 2019 Of all the questions asked of trade attorneys, this is likely the most frequent one. The answer is both a study in current events, but also much more complex. Let’s start at the obvious beginning point. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) receives advance information about shipments which arrive in the U.S. Whatever is the required data (and it differs a bit by mode of transportation…

Canada-U.S. Blog

Website Accessibility – Americans with Disabilities Act Impact

By Susan Kohn Ross on February 19, 2019

Background Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) mandates that public accommodation must be provided to disabled persons to allow for the “full and equal enjoyment” of the related privileges, goods, services, advantages and accommodations as those provided to able bodied persons. The owner of any business is responsible for making sure those accommodations are made with “reasonable modification.” The ADA makes it very clear that a business that does not provide for…

India Corporate Law

Supreme Court on the Rights of Suspended Board in Vijay Kumar Jain v. Standard Chartered Bank: Some Implications

By L. Viswanathan, Dhananjay Kumar & Raunak Dhillon on February 19, 2019

Upon commencement of the resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code), powers of the Board of Directors of the company stand suspended and are vested in and exercised by the resolution professional. While the directors are entitled to attend the meetings of the committee of creditors (COC) formed for the company, such directors have no voting rights. A question arose over whether the directors should be given copies of the resolution…