We frequently get questions from our clients about requests for payment of registration, publication or renewal fees for corporate, domain name and intellectual property filings. Requests may also be received for monitoring fees or the preparation of minutes. The scam requests typically look like invoices or letters, often containing false due dates or threats about loss of rights if you [...]
Earlier this year, we notified you that the US Department of Labor (“DOL”) had published a final rule simplifying the standards relating to the classification of workers as employees or independent contractors for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL has now said that those standards were “in tension with the language and purpose of” the FLSA. [...]
Choosing a trademark may be more difficult than you think. You might be focusing on the catchiness of the name, but there are legal considerations that should be considered as well, such as the possibility of infringing some other trademark. People often think that if they aren't aware of anyone else using the same trademark, it's okay. They may rely [...]
Last month, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), which, effective April 1, 2021, grants tax credits to eligible employers that reimburse them for the cost of providing paid sick and family leave to their employees due to COVID-19. The ARP tax credits are available to eligible employers that pay sick and family leave [...]
Last month, the U.S. Tax Court held in Ward v. Commissioner that payments to a taxpayer from the taxpayer's S corporation (“S corp”) were wages, not distributions of profit. Lateesa Ward is an attorney who formed a small law firm organized as an S corporation. Generally speaking, the owners of an S corp are taxed on their pro rata shares [...]
Last week, the US Supreme Court decided Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., a copyright infringement case. Oracle owns a copyright in Java SE, a computer platform that uses the Java computer programming language. In 2005, Google acquired Android and wanted to build a new software platform for mobile devices. So that programmers familiar with the Java programming language would [...]
You may have heard about the “Satan Shoes” created by rapper Lil Nas X in collaboration with the MSCHF clothing brand. The limited-edition shoes, which began as ordinary Nike Air Max 97 running shoes, sold out in less than one minute despite costing $1,018 a pair. In addition to the Nike swoosh on the side and tongue of each shoe, [...]
The Importance of Promptly Registering Your Copyrights You may have heard there’s no need to register your copyright because it’s automatically protected. But this is only half the story—you can’t enforce your copyright without either a certificate of registration or a denial of registration from the Copyright Office. Plus, there are a lot of reasons to register all of your [...]
Whether you're an employer or an employee, it's important for you to know about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines relating to religious discrimination. The law prohibits covered employers from refusing to recruit, hire or promote individuals of a certain religion, imposing stricter promotion requirements for persons of a certain religion, and imposing more or different work requirements on [...]
In troubled times like these when we’re more aware of our own mortality, you may be wondering what will happen to your small business after your death. Now is a good time to begin the process of “succession planning.” Surveys show that while most small-business owners plan to sell their businesses to fund their retirement, few have written succession plans. [...]
