With the continued focus on sexual harassment brought about by the #MeToo movement, it is important that all employers make sure they have appropriate written sexual harassment policies and training procedures in place. Employees at all levels should participate in anti-harassment training and, if your company doesn't already have an employee handbook that covers this issue, it's time to change [...]
Some of the most valuable assets a business has are its trademarks, and some argue that logos are the most important kind of trademarks. Good logos, such as the "swoosh," an apple with a bite taken out of it, and a pair of golden arches, immediately call to mind the brands they represent. Logos are somewhat unusual in the world [...]
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") sued Cure Encapsulations, Inc., ("Cure") and its owner, alleging that Cure had violated the FTC Act by making false and unsubstantiated claims about its weight-loss product and by paying a third party to write and post fake reviews of its product on Amazon. Cure's owner had contacted a website called Amazon Verified Reviews [...]
We're pleased to announce that we're moving back to our old office space now that the after-fire restoration has been completed. Our address will once again be 6665 SW Hampton St., Suite 200, Portland, Oregon 97223 (the change is from 6655 to 6665). Our phone number remains the same (503.968.8111). Unfortunately, this means our office will be closed for a [...]
New Overtime Rule Proposed The Department of Labor (DOL) has now issued its proposed overtime rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Since 2004, in order to qualify as "exempt" under FLSA's overtime requirements for executives, administrative employees, and professional employees, an employee must perform certain specified duties and be paid an annual salary of at least $23,600 (or [...]
US Supreme Court Rules on Two Copyright Issues This week, the Supreme Court of the United States issued two decisions with major implications for copyright litigation. As you may know, even though your work is automatically copyrighted once it's fixed in a tangible form, the copyright statute says that, other than for certain very limited exceptions, you can't sue until [...]
Trademark Use-in-Commerce Audits The most valuable asset a business has is its trademark. Trademarks are the core of the modern concept of branding, and they are used to identify the business. In order to register your trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you must be using that mark "in commerce." Although you can apply for registration before [...]
Employee Background Checks Last month, the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held that an employer violated the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which requires employers to provide certain disclosure documents to applicants before running any background checks, when it included information about state background-check laws in the same document as the FCRA disclosure. The court found [...]
In 2012, Ted Schroeder sued Pinterest, alleging that his former angel investor and business partner Brian Cohen had stolen the idea for a socially networked "bulletin board" on the internet from Schroeder and given that idea, along with other trade secret information, to Pinterest's founders in 2009. Unfortunately for Schroeder, the court dismissed the case, finding that his alleged trade [...]
Adult entertainment star Stormy Daniels, who became a household name after The Wall Street Journal reported that she was paid $130,000 to keep quiet about her alleged sexual relationship with Donald Trump, wrote an op-ed piece for the Los Angeles Times, arguing that legislation should be passed to overturn last year's Dynamex decision by the California Supreme Court. That decision [...]
