Mondaq Most Recent Articles-21 November 2009

Intellectual Property FAQ on United States brought to you exclusively from Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP Questions and answers regarding intellectual property.	Offshore: Company Formation FAQ on Cyprus brought to you exclusively from Andreas Sofocleous & Co FAQ for company formation in Cyprus.
False Advertising FAQ on United States brought to you exclusively from Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP Frequently asked questions on false advertising.	Labour Law FAQ on Germany brought to you exclusively from Schneider Schwegler Frequently asked questions about Labour law in Germany.
Hague Rules: Dangerous Goods And Negligent Stowage Ince & Co Compania Sud Americana de Vapores S.A. v. Sinochem Tianjin Import & Export Corp. (The Aconcagua) [2009] EWHC 1880 The Aconcagua is the first dangerous goods case to deal directly with a carriers' right to rec......	‘Qualified Person’ Reports To Be Introduced Smith & Williamson Most RPs are now very familiar with the various requirements within the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (Clara).
VAT Advice For Housing Associations Smith & Williamson HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is again trying to understand what housing associations are all about and how they operate.	The Social Housing Pension Scheme Smith & Williamson RPs who participate in Social Housing Pension Schemes (SHPS) have until 30 November this year to advise The Pensions Trust (TPT) of their new strategy for pensions. However, for those who cannot meet the deadline there are other options available.
Component Accounting Smith & Williamson With housing associations, the housing property typically comprises a number of parts, e.g. the roof, kitchen, bathroom and windows, which are replaced at varying intervals, while the core building remains for a very long time.	RP Issues - A Briefing For Registered Providers Of Social Housing, December 2009 Smith & Williamson The key theme through this newsletter is one of planning ahead. We cover a range of different issues of critical importance to the future of registered providers of social housing (RPs), all of which will require investment of time by management to ensure that potential adverse consequences are minimised.
Daimler Loses Mercedes-Benz Trade Mark Case CMS Cameron McKenna LLP The High Court has found that the well known Mercedes-Benz three pointed star trade mark is not infringed by a similar three pointed star trade mark owned by Sany, a Chinese manufacturer of construction machinery.	Peering Through The Cloud Ogilvy Renault While outsourcing the processing or hosting of information is not a new idea, as many companies are familiar with application service providers (ASPs) and software-as-a-service (SaaS), "cloud computing" has become a catch-all phrase that represents the plethora of hosting and processing services available and delivered over the Internet.
Guernsey Reviewing Its Corporate Tax Regime GuernseyFinance In line with the agreed fiscal and economic strategy Guernsey is reviewing its corporate tax regime.	Guernsey Tastes Further Success At The STEP Awards GuernseyFinance Last year Guernsey was named International Finance Centre of the Year and at the STEP Private Client Awards 2009/10 two locally-based providers won awards.
Piracy – Update And Overview Ince & Co There have been frequent attacks by pirates during this past September and with the monsoons abating, it does not take a soothsayer to predict an increase in the intensity of those attacks over the next few weeks.	Workplace Violence And Harassment Law: More Than Just Ontario´s Bill 168 Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP Much has been written of late about Ontario's Bill 168, An Act to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace.
Supreme Court Of Canada Rules That The CRA Has No Claim On The GST Component Of A Bankrupt´s Accounts Receivable Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that bankruptcy trustees, receivers and secured creditors can continue to collect the full amount of accounts receivable of a bankrupt supplier, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) component, even if an amount remains owing by the supplier to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).	Privacy Law Reforms And Privacy Regulation Simplification Addisons Last month, the Federal Government announced that it will overhaul the privacy laws of Australia and implement a consistent privacy law regime.
CMS Relaxes Supervision Requirements For Hospital Outpatient Departments Foley & Lardner Many hospital administrators will be happy to know that the 2010 Outpatient Prospective Payment System final rule (Rule) released by CMS on October 30, 2009 addresses concerns over supervision requirements for outpatient services, in addition to covering all the usual payment changes for hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgery center payments.	Independent Experts And Valuations In Takeovers Middletons For some time, there has been widespread concern that independent expert reports are fast losing relevance due to concerns that the expert is not truly independent.
In Re TOUSA, Inc.: Implications For Solvency Opinion Providers McDermott Will & Emery The bankruptcy court's opinion exemplifies the second guessing that can confront solvency opinion providers and highlights issues that providers should carefully vet with experienced legal counsel	Weekly Climate Change Policy Update - November 2, 2009 Van Ness Feldman Chairman Boxer said the mark-up of S.1733 will start on Tuesday. Over the weekend, Chairman Boxer released an amended version of S.1733 for mark-up, now being referred to as the Manager’s Amendment . . .
Shell Applies For Full Exemption For UK E&P Sector From Competitive Tendering Rules CMS Cameron McKenna LLP In July this year we reported that NAM, the biggest oil and gas operator in the Netherlands had obtained from the European Commission a full exemption from the public procurement rules, which require contracts to be put out for competitive tender, in relation to oil and gas exploration and production activities in the Netherlands.	Is Your Wellness Program In Jeopardy For 2010? McGuireWoods LLP On October 7, 2009, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury jointly issued interim final regulations regarding the Title I restrictions under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA).
Internet's Expansion With Internationalized Domain Names May Spur Registration Boom And Cybersquatting Duane Morris LLP The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)—which is responsible for managing the assignment of domain names and IP addresses on the Internet—approved a new plan on October 30, 2009, to allow non-Latin characters in domain names.	House Small Business Committee Proposes New SBIC Equity Program McGuireWoods LLP The House of Representatives Small Business Committee has proposed H.R. 3854, the "Small Business Financing and Investment Act of 2009." H.R. 3854 was sponsored by Representatives Schrader (D-OR), Velazquez (D-NY), Halvorson (D-IL), and Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) and creates, modifies and/or enhances more than a dozen programs and initiatives designed to stimulate the growth of U.S. small businesses.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank Introduces The Financial Stability Improvement Act Of 2009 To Address Systemic Risk And Other Financial Regulatory Reforms Goodwin Procter LLP House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank introduced a discussion draft of the Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009 (the “Act”), which addresses the regulation of systemic risk and the resolution of systemically important financial institutions.	FTC Defers Red Flags Rule Enforcement To June 1, 2010 McGuireWoods LLP Last Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) deferred enforcement of the Red Flags Rule once again, from Nov. 1, 2009 to June 1, 2010, “at the request of Members of Congress.”
Prepare Now To Comply With Queensland Water Quality Legislation MWH Global In 2003, the Victorian Government helped elevate the topic of water quality in Australia by introducing the Safe Drinking Water Act.	Domain Names: Hints And Tips Goodman Derrick LLP Domain names are a vital business commodity and a valuable source of intellectual property.
Queensland Local Government Act 2009: Turning Compliance Into Business Success MWH Global Following a 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers study conducted for the Australian Local Government Association, a backlog of $14.5 billion in infrastructure renewals was identified.	Not In My Backyard - The Trouble With Conflicting Land Use MWH Global Australia’s population increased 6% between the 2001 and 2006 Census, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
CSA Releases Proposals For Canadian Registrants And Investment Funds To Comply With International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Borden Ladner Gervais LLP The Canadian Securities Administrators recently released for comment proposals that confirm the earlier public statements of the CSA that all Canadian registrants and investment funds will be required to follow IFRS starting on January 1, 2011.	Corporate And Environmental Alert - SEC Reverses Policy On Rule 14a-8 Shareholder Proposals Relating To Environmental And Climate Change Risks Barnes & Thornburg On Oct. 27, 2009, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14E, which reversed the SEC’s policy on whether the Boards of Director of public companies can be forced to report on financial risks associated with environmental issues such as climate change.