Business Law Business Law Resources Labor and Employment Law
—  By Gerry Richardsonmode_comment0 Comments

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR INCREASES THE MINIMUM SALARY TO EXEMPT WHITE COLLAR WORKERS FROM OVERTIME PAY

On March 7, 2019, the United States Department of Labor (“Department”) announced its Notice of Proposed rulemaking to update the regulations that interpret the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). < https://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime2019/index.htm > This law requires employers to pay overtime pay to most workers who work…
Business Law Business Law Resources Copyright Law
—  By Don Kellymode_comment0 Comments

Supreme Court Makes It Clear: To File A Copyright Infringement Suit, You Must Have An Issued Registration. A Pending Application To Register Is Not Enough.

Businesses bemoan the fact that their attorneys can never make a concrete legal determination because the applicable law requires a balancing of a myriad of factors – many of which cannot be known until expensive litigation discovery is undertaken.  On March 4, 2019, the Supreme…
Business Law Business Law Resources
—  By Gerry Richardsonmode_comment0 Comments

THE LONG VIEW: LEGAL AUDITS ALLOW BUSINESS OWNERS TO AVOID CATASTROPHES AND TO ACHIEVE SUCCESSFUL EXIT STRATEGIES

Many businesses grow and earn profits from year to year, but still face existential threats if legal problems happen.  Others have owners who have reached a point in their lives where they want to exit their business to start a new chapter in their lives. …
Business Law Business Law Resources Trademark Law
—  By Don Kellymode_comment0 Comments

Potty-Mouthed Trademarks — Supreme Court to Decide if Federal Prohibition Against Registering Them is Constitutional

It has not been two years since the Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case of Matal v. Tam – a case touching upon an issue near and dear to all of us – free speech.  That case involved the situation in which, Simon…
Business Law Business Law Resources Patent Law Trademark Law
—  By Don Kellymode_comment0 Comments

The Ongoing Ambiguity Over Which Inventions Are Patentable And Which Are Not – The Patent Office’s New Guidelines

On January 7, 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued new 2019 guidelines on how it will go about determining whether an invention is one which the law allows to be patented.  If you have been following the news on this topic then…
Business Law Business Law Resources Labor and Employment Law
—  By Gerry Richardsonmode_comment0 Comments

WHAT IMPACT WILL MEDICAL MARIJUANA HAVE ON MISSOURI WORKPLACES AND DRUG TESTING BY EMPLOYERS?

On November 6, 2018, Missouri voters approved Amendment 2, the Medical Marijuana and Veteran Healthcare Services Initiative by a margin of 66% to 34%.  It legalized marijuana for medical purposes.  Basically, the amendment allows licensed physicians to recommend marijuana use to patients with any one…
Patent Law Trademark Law
—  By Joseph Rolnickimode_comment0 Comments

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ADOPTS FEDERAL COURT CLAIM CONSTRUCTION STANDARD IN PROCEEDINGS AT THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD

On October 10, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a Final Rule in the Federal Register, changing the patent claim construction standard used by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in inter partes review (IPR), post-grant review (PGR), and covered…
A Rose by Any Other Name: Making Sure Your Trade Name Smells as Sweet.
Business Law Business Law Resources Trademark Law
—  By Alex Hurstmode_comment0 Comments

A Rose by Any Other Name: Making Sure Your Trade Name Smells as Sweet

What’s in a name?  Quite a lot, actually.  Most entrepreneurs are aware that their businesses’ trade name has value as a trademark or service mark and that using someone else’s name could expose them to liability for infringement, but that’s only part of the story. …
Labor and Employment Law Patent Law
—  By Joseph Rolnickimode_comment0 Comments

EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS AND PATENT OWNERSHIP RIGHTS

Employers often have new employees sign an Employment Agreement at the time of their employment.  Basic terms of an Employment Agreement often require that the employee protect the intellectual property of the employer, and not disclose confidential information of the employer without authorization.  The basic…