By Alex E. Jones Under the Lanham Act, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has traditionally denied trademark applications for trademarks which “may disparage… persons… institutions, beliefs, or national symbols….” (U.S.C. § 1052). This is commonly...
By Alex E. Jones In May 2017, Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta, published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal announcing that the Department of Labor (“DOL”) planned to rescind certain Obama-era regulations. Specifically, the current administration intends to...
Hackers made international headlines last month after executing a global ransomware attack by exploiting a flaw in Microsoft’s Windows operating system. The malware, “WannaCry,” encrypted users’ files and forced users to pay ransom to un-encrypt them. The cyberattack...
By Alex E. Jones In April, the Sixth Circuit ruled that employers can be held liable for Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) retaliation claims based on the “cat’s paw” theory. The Sixth Circuit has previously applied the cat’s paw theory to other discrimination...
By Alex E. Jones On April 3rd, President Trump signed a bill repealing online privacy rules that were set to go into effect later this year. The rules were passed by the Federal Communications Commission (the “FCC”) in October 2016. The new rules would have required...
By Alex E. Jones On April 4, 2017, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation – the highest court to reach such a conclusion. Title VII prohibits...
By Alex E. Jones On March 21, 2017, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) issued a new rule concerning Section 8 and Section 71 trademark affidavits. The USPTO will now issue post-registration Office actions, requiring registrants to submit evidence...
What is an Open-End Mortgage? Generally, an open-end mortgage is one that remains open after it has been delivered to the county recorder, and it permits the lender/mortgagee to make advances on the loan that are secured by the original mortgage, but only to the...
NLRB Says Employers May Not Maintain an Outright Ban on Employees’ Use of Recording Equipment at Work Add the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) recent ruling in Whole Foods, Inc. to the growing list of NLRB decisions limiting employers’ ability to manage the...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently filed a lawsuit against Randstad, an employment staffing agency, for refusing to hire a qualified candidate due to her medicinal use of methadone. EEOC v. Randstad, US, LP, 1:15-CV-03354. The applicant,...