Employers often conduct background checks when hiring a new employee or considering an employee for promotion, but they don't always realize that the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has strict requirements they must follow. This law applies to both large and small employers, and even applies to individuals hiring a single employee. An employer who violates FCRA may be required [...]
Generally, the person who creates a work is considered to be the author of that work under the copyright law, and, absent a written assignment agreement, the author is the owner of the copyright. There is, however, a major exception to this general rule: the work-made-for-hire doctrine. If a work is "made for hire," the person who commissioned the work [...]
Trademark infringement and counterfeit products are a serious problem in the Amazon marketplace. In order to help combat these problems, Amazon updated its Amazon Brand Registry to allow trademark owners to search for infringements on the site with text and image search. The registry also provides a streamlined method for reporting infringements. To qualify for protection on the Amazon Brand [...]
Federal trademark law requires trademark owners to police their marks. This means that trademark owners must diligently enforce their rights to prevent their marks from being used by others without permission. Although there's no fixed statute of limitations for a federal trademark infringement lawsuit, an infringer can raise a defense known as "laches." The laches doctrine is based on the [...]
OregonSaves is a relatively new program offered by the state for eligible employees who don't have access to retirement plans at work. To be eligible, an employee must be at least 18 years old, have earned income, be employed in the state of Oregon, and be eligible for a Roth IRA (traditional IRAs will be offered at a later date). [...]
Businesses are understandably upset when they discover that someone is posting negative online reviews or other disparaging comments about their products, services or operations on social media. Some companies have tried to protect themselves against negative reviews by adding clauses to their terms of service and other contracts that prohibit customers from making disparaging comments. Other companies take a different [...]
This year, the Oregon Legislature enacted a number of employment-related laws. Recent alerts have discussed the new laws regarding noncompetition agreements and pregnancy accommodations. Other new laws relate to discrimination, sexual assault, breast-milk expression, immigration records, and pay equity requirements. Oregon Workplace Fairness Act (SB 726) Limits on Severance Agreements Beginning October 1, 2020, this Act prohibits employers from entering [...]
Gold Value International Textile, Inc., which does business as Fiesta Fabric ("Fiesta"), designs and sells fabric. It sued a clothing manufacturer, Sanctuary Clothing, LLC ("Sanctuary") for copyright infringement, claiming that Sanctuary copied Fiesta's fabric design and used the infringing fabric to make blouses. Sanctuary then filed a counterclaim, asking the court to invalidate Fiesta's copyright registration for the fabric design [...]
Vulgar Trademarks Erik Brunetti is an artist and entrepreneur who in 1990 co-founded a streetwear clothing line sold under the trademark FUCT. In 2011, faced with a flood of FUCT counterfeit products being sold on the internet, Brunetti filed an application for registration of the mark. The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) refused to register Brunetti's mark based on [...]
Businesses often want to have a trademark that describes what they're selling, but in order to be protectable, a trademark must be "distinctive." That is, it must be used to identify the source of the product or service, not just describe it. Courts classify marks into categories of distinctiveness. The most distinctive marks are those that are arbitrary or fanciful. [...]
