Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Author: Gibbons P.C.

Intellectual Asset Management Again Ranks Gibbons Among World’s Leading Patent Professionals

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Posted in Intellectual Property

On June 18, 2015

Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) has again named Gibbons among The World’s Leading Patent Professionals in its 2015 edition of IAM Patent 1000. David E. De Lorenzi – Chair of the Gibbons Intellectual Property Department – and George W. Johnston, Counsel in the Department, were also recognized as being among IAM’s leading patent practitioners. This is the fifth straight year that IAM has recognized Gibbons and Mr. De Lorenzi.

Supreme Court Set to Weigh in on Whether Offer of Judgment for Complete Relief to Named Plaintiff in Putative Class Action Moots TCPA Claims

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On June 17, 2015

The Supreme Court of the United States has granted certiorari in Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez, which is positioned to resolve the circuit split as to whether an offer of judgment to the named plaintiff in a class action for the full amount of the plaintiff’s individual claim can moot claims brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) for that named plaintiff only and prevent the matter from proceeding to the class certification stage.

New Jersey Appellate Division Says Ascertainability Not Required for Class Certification

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On June 4, 2015

As recently reported by this blog, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld and clarified the implied requirement of Rule 23 that a class be ascertainable in order to be certified. But a New Jersey appellate court recently ruled that there is no such requirement under the New Jersey Court Rules, at least where each class member holds a low-value claim.

New Jersey Appellate Panel Upholds Pre-Discovery Dismissal of Weak Class Action Claims

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On June 2, 2015

In Myska, et al. v. New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co. et al., New Jersey’s Appellate Division recently upheld a pre-discovery striking of a complaint’s class allegations and dismissal of its Consumer Fraud Act claims because the complaint, the underlying policies, and other documents referenced by the complaint showed that class treatment was not warranted and that the plaintiffs could not prevail on their Consumer Fraud Act claims.

New Connecticut Law Passed to Protect Employee Online Privacy

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Posted in Policies and Handbooks / Privacy and Data Security

On June 2, 2015

Effective October 1, 2015, employers in the State of Connecticut are restricted from requiring or requesting employees and job applicants to provide access to “personal online accounts,” which include email, social media and retail-based Internet web sites used exclusively for personal reasons. Specifically, the new law (Public Act No. 15-6) (“the Act”), prohibits employers from requesting or requiring employees or job applicants to: provide the username and password, password, or other means of authentication to access an individual’s personal online account; authenticate or access a personal online account for the employer to view; or invite an employer to accept an invitation or be compelled to accept an invitation from an employer to join a group related to a personal online account.

Federal Court Finds Divisibility, Ruling in Favor of Volumetric Approach to CERCLA Divisibility in Fox River Sediment Cleanup Case

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On May 29, 2015

In the latest development in the litigation over the environmental cleanup of the Fox River in northeastern Wisconsin, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin has found that NCR Corporation’s liability for the remediation of a section of the river is divisible—not joint and several under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The Fox River is a Superfund site contaminated primarily with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from historic paper manufacturing and recycling facilities along the river. This opinion is believed to be the first such judicial decision that has ruled in favor of a divisibility defense since the Supreme Court’s 2009 decision in Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v United States. Whether it is an indication of how Courts may address divisibility and apportionment of cleanup costs at complex sediment sites and other sites in the future remains to be seen.

NLRB Judge Strikes Down Employee Handbook Confidentiality Policy — Including Protection of Customer and Vendor Data

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Posted in Labor

On May 28, 2015

An employee handbook containing policies prohibiting (1) the disclosure of confidential company information, including personnel data, (2) use of the employer’s logo or trademark except as authorized by the company and (3) obstruction and interference with government investigations, including a requirement to notify the company’s human resources representatives or law department and to obtain approval to release information for a government investigation was found to violate Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) by an NLRB Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) in Macy’s Inc., JD(NY)-21-15. According to the ALJ’s decision, Macy’s employees when reading the policies could reasonably construe such policies to restrict their rights under Section 7 of the NLRA to engage in protected concerted activity for their mutual aid or protection.

Offering Compassionate Care While Alleviating Ethical Concerns: How Some Pharmaceutical Companies Are Meeting Both Demands

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Posted in Pharmaceuticals

On May 20, 2015

In recent years, families and friends of terminally ill patients have launched highly visible social media campaigns to secure access to potentially life-saving medicine, before those experimental drugs are approved. Pharmaceutical companies that are developing these investigational medicines often face difficult ethical and business relations dilemmas: there are limited exceptions for non-approved drug dissemination and the costs and consequences attendant on the exceptions can make either choice unpalatable. Companies and caregivers alike have struggled with how to fairly provide access to experimental drugs without negatively impacting long term drug development or approval.

Another Patent Reform Bill Targets Frivolous Demand Letters

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Posted in Patent / USPTO

On May 11, 2015

Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved yet another patent reform bill to curtail misleading and frivolous demand letters sent by patent assertion entities (also known as “patent trolls”). The legislation, approved by a vote of 30 to 20, is known as the Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters Act, or TROL Act (H.R. 2045). This bill aims to protect businesses from frivolous demands while preserving the ability of patent holders to legitimately protect their intellectual property. The overall goal is to curtail “certain bad faith communications in connection with the assertion of a United States patent [that] are unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and for other purposes.”

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