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Inflation Reduction Act
Dual Air Permitting Scheme in Texas Lives On, For Now
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling on June 26, 2012, upholding the EPA's various rulemakings regulating greenhouse gases (GHG) is a significant blow to the numerous oil and gas, electric generating, chemical, and refining companies operating in Texas that...
Federal Circuit Passes Torch From Juries to Judges for Willful Infringement Determinations
Just in time for the London 2012 Summer Olympics, the Federal Circuit, in Bard Peripheral Vascular v. W.L. Gore & Assocs., 1 passes the torch from juries to judges on willful infringement determinations in patent litigation. With an en banc...
D.C. Federal Court Upholds DOL 2010 Flip-Flop on Exempt Status of Mortgage Loan Officers Under FLSA
Revised Ruling Awards Overtime to Loan Officers; May Affect More Than 250,000 Employees Nationwide Employers: beware when relying on Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Opinion Letters. Even better, don’t rely on them. In the latest in a series...
Judge Rules NLRB's Fast-Track Election Rule Invalid
On May 14, 2012, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, a 2011 Obama appointee to the Washington, D.C. District Court, found invalid the National Labor Relations Board's recent rule that would speed up union elections, because the NLRB enacted it without...
Department of Labor's OFCCP Postpones TRICARE Network Provider Compliance Reviews
The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), the federal agency tasked with enforcing the affirmative action requirements of Executive Order 11246 and related federal statutes, is notifying TRICARE network providers that any on-going compliance reviews...
Companies File Rehearing Requests on PJM Western Hub IBT Issue
As previously noted in an Energy Legal Blog post on March 19 , in an order resolving a complaint filed by DC Energy, LLC and DC Energy Mid"Atlantic, LLC against PJM Interconnection LLC (PJM), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)...
D.C. Circuit Court Blocks NLRB's Notice Posting Rule
Posting Requirement Delayed at least through September 2012 The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today granted an injunction blocking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from implementing its new notice posting rule. The rule would have...
South Carolina Federal Court Strikes Down NLRB's Notice Posting Rule
On April 13, 2012, a South Carolina federal district court held that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) exceeded its authority in promulgating a rule that requires all employers subject to the NLRB's jurisdiction to post a notice of Employee...
Mandatory Posting Date for NLRB's Notice of Unionization Rights Remains in Effect
Federal Court Partially Upholds Notice Rule and April 30 Posting Deadline On March 2, 2012, a D.C. federal court ruled that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) can require all employers subject to the NLRB's jurisdiction to post a notice...
'Round the Turn They're A-Comin'! The Wild Patent Enforcement Ride of Marine Polymer v. HemCon
Problems arise when you suddenly realize that you have prepared for one type of race and you find yourself in the middle of a completely different type of competition. Those involved in patent infringement cases analogize the process to running...
Second Circuit Clarifies Elements of a Domestic Securities Transaction Under Morrison v. National Australia Bank
On March 1, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a foreign plaintiff may assert a fraud claim under the federal securities laws based on its purchases of securities issued by U.S. companies that...
USPTO Preliminary Guidelines Spread Mayo on Patent-Eligibility
A day after the United States Supreme Court delivered its decision in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. , 1 the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued preliminary guidance 2 instructing examiners to reject process claims that invoke...
Employer Safety Incentive Programs Might be Unlawful - New OSHA Memo Clarifies, Threatens
Employers who reward employees through certain kinds of safety incentive programs for the absence, or limited number, of workplace injuries might be violating OSHA's anti-retaliation and recordkeeping rules, according to a March 12, 2012, Guidance Memorandum issued by the agency...
Supreme Court Allows Judicial Review of EPA Administrative Orders Under the Clean Water Act - But How Much Will It Help?
On March 21, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that courts can review EPA administrative orders under the Clean Water Act before EPA seeks to enforce them. The Supreme Court’s ruling, while significant, is of uncertain benefit to those regulated by...
Can't Touch This - Supreme Court Finds Personalized Medicine Patent Claims Invalid
In Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., the Supreme Court of the United States held unanimously that claims directed to a method of altering a drug dose based on levels of the drug’s metabolite are ineligible for patent protection...