New England Biz Law Update

With the passage of legislation by the U.S. Senate in March and approval by the House Judiciary Committee in April to send a similar bill to the House for a vote, changes to patent law are likely later this year.

Tagged with: May 2011 issue

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s recent opinion in Global NAPs v. Awiszus (457 Mass. 489) has garnered wide attention across the bar, from employment attorneys to legal malpractice attorneys to in-house counsel.

Tagged with: May 2011 issue

If your company is like many others, it has been using the same non-compete agreement for years with little or no changes. So far, there haven’t been any major problems and it seems to cover the bases: departing employees are ...

Tagged with: May 2011 issue

After much anticipation, the United Kingdom Ministry of Justice recently issued its long-awaited Guidance for the Bribery Act of 2010. With the act set to take effect on July 1, the guidance provides some much needed instruction on the intended ...

Tagged with: May 2011 issue

What to do when the government comes calling is a topic of frequent discussion among both in-house and outside counsel. The need to respond appropriately to a government inquiry has taken on heightened significance given the recent prosecution of a ...

Tagged with: May 2011 issue

After a three-and-a-half-year hiatus, the Social Security Administration started sending “no-match” letters on April 6 to employers if an employee’s Social Security number does not correspond with the SSA’s records for the 2010 tax year. The current version of the no-match ...

“I imagine that right now, you’re feeling a little bit like Alice. Hmm? Tumbling down the rabbit hole?”  — Morpheus to Neo in “The Matrix” On March 22, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a unanimous decision in the case of ...

Tagged with: May 2011 issue

We are all looking for ways to save our clients money. One way global companies might save money is to file foreign trademark applications through the Madrid system, rather than filing separately in each country.

Tagged with: March 2011 issue trademarks

For the second time, Massachusetts lawmakers have taken up the question of whether to overhaul existing non-compete laws that allow employers to prevent former employees from working against them after their employment ends.

Tagged with: March 2011 issue non-compete agreement

Over the years, Massachusetts employers have wondered: “What can I deduct from an employee’s paycheck?”

Tagged with: March 2011 issue wage deductions