Lending Blind - What You Don't Know Can Hurt You
Arnstein & Lehr, Chicago
by R. Kymn Harp
There is no question we are in a fiercely competitive commercial lending market. Banks and other lenders have more money to lend than credit worthy borrowers seek to borrow. Interest rates remain...
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$300 Million Criminal Antitrust Fine Underscores the Importance of Understanding U.S. Antitrust Laws
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. Washington
by Michael Bissegger
On October 13, 2005, the United States Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) announced that Samsung Electronics Company Ltd. (“Samsung”) had agreed to pay a $300 million fine (the 2nd largest criminal antitrust fine in U.S. history) as part of its agreement to plead guilty to charges of participating in an international price-fixing conspiracy. The DOJ’s antitrust investigation has thus far produced charges against three companies and five individuals and total fines over $646 million. Aside from the historical significance of the size of the fine, the DOJ’s investigation and prosecution of Samsung and others provides an important reminder to all international companies that do business in the U.S. of the importance of understanding and complying with the basic principles of U.S. antitrust laws.
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Analysis of the Mexican Commercial Insolvency Law
Martinez, Algaba, Estrella, de Haro y Galvan-Duque
by Martinez, Algaba, Estrella, de Haro y Galvan-Duque
On May 12th, 2000, the Commercial Insolvency Law (“CIL”) was published in
the Mexican Official Daily of the Federation, and it entered into full force and effect
the next day. The CIL repealed the 1943 Law Governing Suspension of Payments
and Bankruptcy, and repealed or amended, accordingly, all other legal provisions
that opposed the provisions of the CIL.
FOR FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE (PDF)
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Recent Developments in Trademarks
Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk and Rabkin, San Francisco
by Karen S. Frank
I. SCOPE OF RIGHTS
a. Personal Names
Flynn v. AK Peters Ltd., 377 F.3d 13 (1st Cir. 2004).
For a personal name to be eligible for trademark protection, a
plaintiff must demonstrate that such name has acquired secondary
meaning for the customers in the relevant market for the products
or services associated with such name.
Plaintiff, a co-author of a book on robotics, failed to show that the
wider group of consumers that might purchase a revised version of
the book would do so based on her name being affixed to the
revision, of which she did not fully approve. The First Circuit
affirmed the district court’s summary judgment ruling, holding that
the Lanham Act did not apply to plaintiff’s claim, as anecdotal
evidence that a “handful of strangers” recognized her from a talk
and one graduate student said she was “famous” did not constitute
sufficient evidence of her name having acquired secondary
meaning.
FOR FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE (PDF)
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International Email Marketers Beware: Utah’s Latest Effort to Curb Spam
Fabian & Clendenin, Salt Lake City, Utah
by Gregory M. Saylin and Leanne N. Webster
When the United States Congress enacted the CAN-SPAM Act in 2003, some email marketers may have had a false sense of security that the only U.S. law about which they needed to be concerned was this new federal legislation which eliminated private rights of action except by internet service providers. In fact, the CAN-SPAM Act only preempted laws that specifically sought to regulate commercial email, leaving open the possibility of suits brought under common law or other broader legislative schemes. Litigation over email advertising has continued throughout the United States.
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Doing Business in China: Protecting Your Intellectual Property Laws
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., New York
by Jian Hang
Under U.S. patent law, there are three types of patents: utility patents, design patents, and plant patents. Under China’s current patent law, there are also three types of patents: invention patents, utility model patents, and design patents. China’s invention patents and utility model patents correspond to the U.S. utility patent. Although both countries’ design patents are nearly the same, what U.S. patent laws calls “plant patents” are not similarly protected under China’s patent law.
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The Clean Air Act
Arnstein & Lehr, LLP , Chicago
by William J. Anaya
Investors looking to expand into U.S. entities often encounter those peculiarly American environmental regulations. Chief among those regulations are the strictures imposed by the "command and control" structure of the federal Clean Air Act. The following is a brief sketch of the scope and authority of that statute, and its impact on entitles involved with emissions that affect the air shed in the Untied States.
The federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. Sections 7401 to 7671q) was originally enacted by Congress in 1963, later amended in 1967, then again in 1970, and most recently in 1990. The 1970 Clean Air Act Amendments established the now familiar command and control regulatory structure, while the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments significantly expanded the scope of regulated emissions and processes, and provided alternative regulatory and market-based systems.
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U.S. Land Sales Laws – Complying with the
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., Atlanta
by M. Maxine Hicks, Esq. and Linda E. Ragan, Esq.
A successful marketing campaign for real estate, like most products, often involves a multi-state and international target market. Marketing initiatives for consumer products may include websites, electronic mail, postal mail and other forms of communication. Similarly, consumers are using these methods to shop for real estate. A real estate developer has potential purchasers located in multiple states and countries. Having such a large consumer base and utilizing convenient methods of communicating with potential purchasers can be a great asset, provided the developer is in a position to take advantage of it. For residential real estate marketed and/or sold within the United States this takes planning.
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Directors and Officers of Public Companies at Greater Personal Financial Risk Under Ontario's New Civil Liability Regime
Fogler, Rubinoff LLP, Toronto
by Fogler, Rubinoff LLP Securites Group
The Ontario government has proclaimed into force effective December 31, 2005 the new Securities Act (Ontario) regime that gives securityholders a limited, statutory right to sue an issuer and its directors, management, controlling shareholders and others if the issuer's continuous disclosure is improper and securities of such issuer were purchased or sold on a stock exchange or other secondary markets
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The New Standard for “All Appropriate Inquiries”
EPSTEIN, BECKER & GREEN, P.C., ATLANTA
by DANIEL H. SHERMAN IV, ESQ. & KERRY F. NELSON, ESQ.
On November 1, 2005, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued its final rule establishing the federal standards for conducting “all appropriate inquiries” necessary to qualify for various defenses to liability under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”). The rule, which will become effective on November 1, 2006, sets forth guidelines that a prospective property purchaser must follow when conducting pre-acquisition due diligence. Adherence to these guidelines is critical to ensure one’s qualification for landowner liability protections provided by CERCLA, including, among others, the CERCLA innocent landowner defense. The all appropriate inquiries standards will also govern the site characterization and assessment activities of any party receiving a brownfields grant under CERCLA Section 104(k)(2)(B).
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