Legal

Pfizer has recently filed a lawsuit against one of its former employees, Chun Xioa Li, alleging that she stole trade secrets and misled Pfizer about her reasons for doing so before resigning from the company. In a brief that was filed on November 23, Pfizer alleges that Chun Xioa Li uploaded over 12,000 documents to her private Google Drive account, including documents related to the company's COVID-19 vaccine as well as documents relating to other confidential drugs that Pfizer is working to produce. Chun Xioa Li first began working for Pfizer in 2006 as an associate director of statistics in [...]

On Monday, November 15, Dutch cooperative Rabobank announced that it had been ordered by the Dutch central bank to fix its customer due diligence practices under threat of a "punitive enforcement procedure". Rabobank went on to explain in the statement that the current scrutiny the bank is facing stems from Rabobank's lack of compliance with Dutch anti-money-laundering laws. Rabobank said in the company's statement that, "These deficiencies mainly concern the execution, recording and outsourcing of client due diligence, transaction monitoring and reporting of unusual transactions." As of right now, Rabobank claims to be unaware as to whether prosecutors are investigating the situation [...]

Ever since the app was launched in 2016, TikTok has been a source of numerous controversies. The latest controversy to strike TikTok, though, is perhaps the most substantial. According to court documents, a proposed $92 million settlement is now pending in the TikTok, Inc., Consumer Privacy Litigation. The lawsuit against TikTok, Inc. alleges that the company has violated state and federal law by improperly collecting and using the personal data of the app's users.  While TikTok, Inc. has denied these allegations, the company announced on November 15 that a settlement has been reached and has directed its [...]

In an effort to boost the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, the US government recently voiced its support for temporarily suspending the intellectual property protections that would normally be afforded to the companies producing the vaccines. The argument is that providing patent waivers to manufacturers that do not own the patent on COVID-19 vaccines will allow more manufacturers to begin producing vaccines and providing them to underserved populations. Currently, around three billion COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide. However, the vast majority of these vaccines have gone to wealthier countries, and completely shutting down the spread of the virus [...]

Passed as part of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act is a new anti-money laundering act that will significantly strengthen the government's authority to combat money laundering in the United States. Called the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, this new law establishes a wide-ranging set of reforms that present significant implications for financial institutions. While there are a lot of details and nuances to this new anti-money laundering act, the key takeaway is that this act will expand the Justice and Treasury Department's ability to both investigate and punish financial institutions for Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) [...]

The workforce never imagined a collective experiment in remote work, not until during the COVID-19 crisis. While many companies danced around the idea of telecommuting, it had never been adopted widescale with the traditional office paradigm still the dominant approach across industries. However, with an infectious pandemic, we were all forced to embrace change. Coming out of the other side of the tunnel, workplaces now face an entirely new set of work ethics issues. Diligence and Accountability Ideally, every worker takes their employment commitment seriously when hired and does his or her utmost to support the [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our world in ways that we are only beginning to understand. While many of the pandemic's consequences are broadly recognized, other more nuanced ways in which the pandemic has influenced our society have largely flown under the radar. One such consequence of the virus that hasn't garnered a ton of attention is the impact that it has had on litigation in the United States. According to a recent survey published by Norton Rose Fullbright (NRF), the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a substantial increase in litigation with 31% of companies surveyed reporting [...]

Epic Games - best known as the creator of Fortnite - recently announced that it has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the European Commission. The lawsuit claims that the 30% cut that Apple takes on all App Store purchases is anti-competitive, and a spokesperson from Epic Games was quoted saying that Apple has, "not just harmed but completely eliminated competition in app distribution and payment processes." This lawsuit comes after Epic Games attempted last summer to launch its own in-app payment system in an effort to avoid the 30% cut that Apple takes on all [...]

In a strange turn of events, pop superstar Taylor Swift has found herself fighting a lawsuit from a Utah fantasy theme park called Evermore over the name of her latest album - which happens to also be named Evermore. The theme park alleges that the name of Swift's album is causing "actual confusion," infringing on their marketing and merchandising, and negatively affecting the park's online presence. Evermore Park also alleges that both Swift and the park are offering similar merchandise and that Swift's Evermore merchandise is an infringement on the theme park's trademark. The park is [...]

Did you watch The Big Game on Sunday, February 7? If you’re a fan, you probably know why most advertisers don’t simply call it The Super Bowl. As Colbert famously pointed out with the “Superb Owl” routine, Super Bowl is a trademark, registered by the NFL. The NFL is known to sue over “counterfeit” shirts copying NFL team names or proprietary gear designs. It has sued churches over Super Bowl parties. Other registered trademarks include Pro Bowl, the NFL shield logo, and images of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. IP Theft, or Nominative Fair Use? The National Football League guards the brand because its business model involves selling [...]

Included as part of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act that was recently passed by Congress with bipartisan support is Section 5314 – a law that is designed to encourage whistleblowers within the financial industry to report money laundering to the Department of the Treasury. This law was modeled closely after the highly successful Dodd-Frank Act and includes a monetary incentive for employees who take the risk of acting as whistleblowers. Under Section 5314, any employee who provides “original information” regarding money laundering is eligible to receive a reward from the Department of the Treasury. [...]

We understand that everyone is feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In these days of uncertainty, we want you to know that we’re there for you to help where we can. With that in mind, we have launched a live blog that we will regularly update. Continuing education deadlines and requirements are changing, albeit temporarily. You are likely aware that the majority of states have already issued changes. We’ll keep you updated with all of the information as we get it, in one place. Rest assured that our priority remains the same: making it easier [...]