Over the course of the past fifteen years, employees have generally become much more aware of their workplace rights. Nowhere is this more evident than in the area of wage and hour law. For these reasons, it is extraordinarily important for employers to be sure that their payroll practices are fully compliant with applicable State and Federal wage and hour laws. This is truly not an area in which any employer can afford to be “penny wise and pound foolish.”
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Employee Considerations in Mergers and Acquisitions and Post-Merger Enforcement of Non-Competition Agreements
In the course of completing your due diligence into a company you want to buy, you and your counsel evaluate many things, one of which should be the people employed by the target company. Expecting the deal to close, clients of mine often start the process of evaluating the performance of the employees they will “acquire” in the transaction, any territorial overlaps among existing and “acquired” employees, and other factors relating to this overriding question: “After we close this deal, who do we want to keep?”
Read MoreImportant Tax Changes for Businesses in the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 Things You Need to Know in 2013
The first phase of the political tussle over the “fiscal cliff” primarily concerned deficit and stimulus measures. However, it resulted in some favorable tax law changes too. This article describes those changes that are most likely to be relevant to business taxpayers.
Read MoreLatest Word On At-Will Employment And Wrongful Termination Claims
Public sector and unionized employers have constraints on their ability to terminate their employees. However, many private sector employers are not unionized, and their employment relationship with their employees is called “at-will.” Some employers assume that at-will employment means that they have an unfettered right to fire employees. To the surprise of many employers, their ability to freely terminate at-will employees is undermined by the common law legal claim of “wrongful termination” (also called “wrongful discharge”).
Read MoreThough Proper Patent Marking Is A Vital IP Strategy, Improper Patent Marking Can Be A Costly Exercise
Proper patent marking of an apparatus or system is vital to maintaining a solid intellectual property strategy. Without using proper patent marking methods, the public is not made aware of a pending patent application or an issued patent. Such lack of notice to the public may result in a substantial decrease in awarded damages from a patent infringement claim or a missed opportunity to warn third parties that you may soon have the right to stop them from making, using, selling, or importing your patented technology.
Read MoreFixing Your Non-Compete Agreements Before You’re In A Fix: Ten Common Employer Mistakes That Threaten Your Non-Compete
Offering An Invention For Sale Can Result In A Loss Of Potential Patent Rights
Patent law in the United States provides a one-year grace period for filing a provisional or utility patent application after the performance of certain commercial activities. Included in these commercial activities is the offering of an invention for sale. In such a case, if a provisional or utility patent application is not filed within one year of offering the invention for sale, the invention is considered donated to the public and no longer patentable.
Read MoreNew Patent Rules: When No Change Is Newsworthy
In 1899, the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Charles H. Duell said, “[E]verything that can be invented has been invented.” If this statement were true, there certainly would not be the delays in the USPTO that have become the norm. Over the years, the USPTO has tried many different remedies to increase productivity of the USPTO, while maintaining, or increasing, the quality of patents granted
Read MoreIndemnity: A Clause Worth Reading
Nearly every contract contains an indemnity clause. These clauses are so common, that many don’t even read them, assuming that they are inconsequential boilerplate. Nothing could be further from the truth. The existence and scope of an indemnity clause could affect your very survival as a viable e
Read MoreNoncompetes Can Protect Your Company’s “Goodwill”
Employers commonly require employees to sign agreements containing restrictive covenants. These include non-competition agreements, in which the employee promises not to work for a competing venture after departure. Many employers require non-disclosure agreements, which prevent a former employee from divulging or utilizing the employer’s confidential information. Finally, employers often require non-solicitation agreements, in which the former employee is prohibited from contacting clients and/or co-employees with the intention of diverting them away from the company.
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