I was in Italy last week and visited Vatican City. Passport control at the Rome airport was annoyingly slow, but getting in and out of Vatican City – a sovereign nation – was surprisingly easy....more
The US Department of Labor recently published a proposed rule seeking to rescind the 2024 independent contractor rule and largely reinstate the 2021 “core factor” framework for determining worker classification under the Fair...more
The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on February 27, 2026, published a long-awaited proposed rule that would rescind and replace the Biden Administration's 2024 independent contractor...more
On November 28, 2025, the USPTO published new guidance on the Federal Register, replacing and rescinding its prior February 13, 2024 “Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions.” ...more
In Patel v. Commissioner, the United States Tax Court held on November 12, 2025, that the economic substance doctrine, as codified by § 7701(o) of the Internal Revenue Code, requires a relevancy requirement, noting that...more
The pendulum on federal and state worker classification rules has swung again. Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it would no longer enforce a Biden-era rule (the “2024 Rule”) that sought to reduce...more
New Zealand’s open economy, strong reputation for innovation, and broad trade networks make it an attractive place to do business, especially through alternatives to direct employment, such as engaging workers as independent...more
On May 1, 2025, a federal courtroom in San Francisco became ground zero for one of the most consequential copyright hearings in recent memory. The three hour hearing in Kadrey v. Meta Platforms marked the first major judicial...more
Two recent memoranda from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) have sought to clarify the factors by which boards will evaluate discretionary denial under Fintiv. This guidance follows the U.S. Patent and...more
In May 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) panel in Apple Inc. v. Fintiv, Inc. (IPR2020-00019) denied institution of Apple’s petition in view of the advanced state of a parallel district court litigation and in...more
Approximately one year ago, we discussed the impact of the final rule from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regarding whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act...more
How many years must pass before a grisly murder can support a marketing effort? Apparently, something less than the 132 years since Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother were axe murdered in Fall River, Massachusetts. (Yes,...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Nov. 21, 2024, issued a final rule to supervise larger nonbank companies that offer "general-use digital consumer payment applications" such as digital wallets, payment apps...more
The draft guidelines provide further clarification to the EDPB’s interpretation of legitimate interests, and suggest a potential divergence with the UK ICO....more
Recent unauthorized Banksy exhibits highlight the ongoing struggle of what obligations society owes to artists. While intellectual property laws primarily provide artists with economic protections and redress, what of artists...more
The recent $30 million settlement between 23andMe and 6.4 million users following a major data breach offers important lessons for businesses dealing with sensitive genetic and genomic information....more
The European Commission (EC) has published draft antitrust guidelines on exclusionary abuses (the Draft Guidelines) and is conducting a public consultation to gather feedback....more
NIL partnerships between businesses and collegiate student-athletes remain a lucrative opportunity. In fact, marketing and advertising through student-athletes has been so successful that the NIL industry is projected to soon...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has been using a caffeinated approach to challenge employers in unfair labor practice disputes, with Section 10(j) injunction petitions at the top of the menu, often...more
The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business....more
A panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that covers the states of Florida, Georgia and Alabama issued a decision on July 12, 2024, that clarified what a trial court can rely on in deciding a motion to...more
As discussed in Part 1, understanding the application of the Copyright Act’s works made for hire doctrine is needed to protect an organization’s intellectual property. Specifically, the application of the doctrine to...more
On July 16, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB” or the “Board”) General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, released GC Memorandum 24-05 to all field offices stating that the agency should continue “to aggressively seek...more
In Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney, 602 U.S. ____ (2024) (hereafter, "Starbucks"), the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) recently resolved a circuit split to clarify that if the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) seeks a...more
The National Labor Relations Act gives employees the right to engage in activities together with and on behalf of their co-workers to improve working conditions, called protected concerted activity. The question frequently...more