The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced Oct. 17 that starting Nov. 15, it will begin soliciting comments on the effectiveness of Section 301 tariffs the Trump Administration placed on Chinese goods. The notice and request for comments relate to USTR’s ongoing four-year statutory review of the Section 301 investigation of China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation. In the Federal Registrar Notice, USTR said it is seeking “public comments on the effectiveness of...

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European leaders gathered in Brussels yesterday (20 October) for what was expected to be a tense two-day European Council Summit. As predicted, yesterday’s discussions between the 27 leaders were consumed by the issue of rising energy prices, leaving leaders in talks until the early hours of morning. Less than a week since the European Commission came forward with its latest package of emergency energy measures, Member States have now requested that the Commission go back to the drawing board and “urgently”...

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The EACC, in partnership with the International Property Tax Institute (IPTI), wants to keep its members up to date with the latest developments in property taxes in the USA and Europe. IPTI has put together below a selection of articles from IPTI Xtracts; more articles can be found on its website (www.ipti.org). United States New York: NYC office market faces ‘real estate apocalypse’ Dive Brief: Office valuations in New York City are forecasted to decline by as much as 39% by 2029 due...

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Just how far can companies go in requiring in-person work? That is one of the critical questions facing European employers today, according to Littler’s fifth annual European Employer Survey. Drawing on insights from nearly 700 human resources executives, in-house attorneys, and business leaders, this year’s survey finds employers pulled in different directions as their desire to increase in-person work may conflict with the flexibility needed to attract and retain talent. The majority of European employers responding to our survey are either...

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Changes in Europe that are Critical for Patent Holders After 45 years, the European Patent Office is replacing the existing regional patent system that has local enforcement with a new Unitary Patent (UP) system that has enforcement throughout Europe by a Unified Patent Court (UPC). Not only will Unitary Patents (UPs) be subject to the UPC, but existing European patents will also be subject to the UPC unless specific actions are taken. This long-awaited change is significant and alters the landscape...

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Last week, the first jury trial under the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA) resulted in a $228 million verdict in favor of the plaintiff and the class. The case, Rogers v. BNSF Railway Co., was filed in May 2019 and was pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. A class was certified in March 2022. Plaintiff alleged that BNSF unlawfully scanned his and other truck drivers’ fingerprints for identity verification when he and they visited...

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On October 11, 2022, the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced settlements with Bittrex Inc. (Bittrex). The settlements arise from violations of the Bank Secrecy Act—the federal law that imposes anti-money laundering (AML) requirements on financial institutions—and violations of OFAC's sanctions regimes. This matter represents the first time that FinCEN and OFAC jointly have penalized a money services business (MSB) for inadequately monitoring virtual currency transactions for suspicious and illegal activity....

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Amongst the various measures provided by the so-called Labour Deal to improve employees’ work-life balance, is the alternating weekly working regime. In short, this system allows full-time employees to work more one week and less the following week. Part-time employees are excluded since the existing legal framework already allows them to organise their working regime in cycles that extend over more than one week in which periods with longer and shorter working hours alternate in a fixed order. Employer’s choice The draft Act...

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