SGR Partner Scott Woldow was recently featured in the International Trademark Association’s monthly bulletin regarding a Panel Discussion Scott gave to the Trademark Examination Division. The topic he spoke on was called “A View from the Outside”. Former Trademark Examiners discussed the differences between being an Examiner with the USPTO and being a trademark attorney in outside practice.
The United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced on June 27, 2017 that it will reinstate issuance of Opinion Letters by its Wage and Hour Division to assist employers and employees in interpreting laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). These opinion letters will replace the more general Administrator Interpretations (“Interpretations”) that have been used by the DOL since 2010. This is a welcome change for employers as Opinion Letters provide much more specific feedback regarding an employer’s employment practices. The previously used Interpretations set forth general guidance related to… Read more
Overview Over four years in the making, the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) was approved by the European Council and Parliament on April 14, 2016, and will come into force beginning on May 25, 2018. In the wake of ever-increasing cyber security and data privacy threats across the globe, the GDPR is intended to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe and increase data privacy protections for all European Union citizens. The GDPR will replace the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (the “Directive”), which required each member state of the European Union to pass national legislation to implement the intended outcome… Read more
Franchise mergers and acquisitions are not slowing down, and the deals range from small, like the recent acquisition of Green Home Solutions by Mosquito Shield, to the $1.3 billion tender offer purchase of Popeye’s by Restaurant Brands International, the owner of Burger King and Tim Hortons. The mergers and acquisitions of franchise companies and systems involve many special considerations that set them apart from the acquisitions of other businesses. Such businesses are more than the “sum of their parts” as franchise companies subsist on a foundation built from distinctive business attributes. These include a franchised company’s intangible assets and their… Read more
