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On September 9, 2021, President Biden issued his “Path Out of the Pandemic” COVID Action Plan (the “Plan”), which, among other mandates, calls upon the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) to create and issue Emergency Temporary Standards requiring employers with 100 or more employees to require either COVID vaccinations or weekly COVID testing for unvaccinated workers, as well as to provide paid time off for employee vaccinations or to recover from receiving the vaccination. The Plan also requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) to require COVID vaccinations for employees in health care centers that receive Medicare…
The new school year is upon us and once again the COVID-19 pandemic is front and center. von Briesen’s School Law Section put together thirty common questions and answers for Wisconsin K-12 Administrators at the request of WASBO. Read the full article on WASBO’s website: Are We All Ready to Open the School House Doors? Thirty Common Q&As for Wisconsin K-12 Administrators. The information contained in the Q&As should be used as a guide, districts should engage with their lawyers to address specific issues. von Briesen & Roper Legal Update is a periodic publication of von Briesen & Roper,…
von Briesen & Roper, s.c. is proud to announce that 71 of its attorneys were included in the 28th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.  Two attorneys are designated as “Lawyer of the Year” and six attorneys are listed as Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, a category for attorneys in practice between 5-9 years. “Lawyer of the Year” Awards: Milwaukee, WI Madison, WI Best Lawyers: Ones To Watch: Chicago, IL Milwaukee, WI Neenah, WI Best Lawyers®: Chicago, IL Madison, WI Milwaukee, WI Neenah, WI Waukesha, WI (* indicates lawyers listed for the first time) # # # About von…
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Olaf Soot Design, LLC v. Daktronics, Inc., 839 F. App’x 505, 508 (Fed. Cir. 2021) Key Takeaways: District Courts must resolve claim construction disputes When claim language makes clear that two components are separate components, one element cannot be treated as part of the other. In Olaf, the district court failed to resolve the parties’ dispute as to claim construction and allowed the dispute to be tried to the jury. The Federal Circuit made quick work of this issue, reiterating its holding in O2 Micro International Ltd. v. Beyond Innovation Technology Co., where it held that “[w]hen the parties present…
Chinese patent protection has become a very important component of a worldwide intellectual property portfolio. Considering China only began granting patent rights in 1984, while the United States has been doing so since 1790, this has been an absolute sea change in business planning for many global companies over the past few decades. In the last year alone, a total of 1.49 million patent applications were filed with the National Intellectual Property Administration, PRC (the Chinese Patent & Trademark Office). By comparison, this is more than were filed with the United States Patent & Trademark Office and European Patent Office…
Obtaining a United States patent conveys the benefit of a monopoly against others exploiting the patented invention for a limited time: 20 years from the earliest filing date. However, the process for obtaining the patent is time consuming, which can delay issuance of the patent and thereby reduce the amount of time that the patent is enforceable. The process is also expensive in terms of filing fees and attorney fees. Examiner interviews during prosecution provide the opportunity to advance the patent application to allowance in less time and to reduce the overall cost of obtaining a patent. At the same…
As employers nationwide have begun to implement mandatory COVID-19 vaccine requirements in the workplace, legal questions have been presented as to whether these vaccine requirements are legally permissible under various laws. While the EEOC has issued guidance that generally permits mandatory vaccine requirements in the workplace so long as reasonable accommodations are offered for those with disabilities or sincerely held religious beliefs, questions still remained as to whether mandatory workplace vaccine requirements were permissible under other laws, such as the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), given the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) process. DOJ’s July 6, 2021, Memorandum Opinion now…
As our Firm noted in yesterday’s Legal Update, the CDC put out updated guidance regarding the use of masks due to the impact of the delta variant. As noted, the updated CDC guidance recommends that masks be worn at schools. Please recognize that such information from the CDC is only “guidance” and it is not a requirement or mandate. More specifically, the CDC guidance notes: CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status. Further, the CDC indicates that “[c]hildren should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with proper…
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced on July 27, 2021 that it will adjust its advice to recommend that vaccinated people in substantial or high transmission areas of COVID-19 (defined below) wear masks in indoor public spaces. This guidance will substantially alter the CDC’s May 13 guidance that largely exempted fully vaccinated individuals from the indoor mask requirement. There has been no change in the outdoor masking recommendations at this time. In changing its masking recommendations, the CDC asserts that current scientific information indicates that the delta variant can be spread despite vaccine status, warranting an adjustment to its…
It’s a new day in college athletics as sweeping changes in law and the NCAA policy on an athlete’s ability to receive compensation for their name, image and likeness (NIL) take effect across the nation. Universities are working quickly to draft and communicate their policies and athletes are chomping at the bit to take advantage of the new opportunities afforded to them under these changes. But, with excitement and new opportunities comes the risk of missteps, especially as all sides learn the new landscape at the same time. Because college athletes are new to the business side of sports, education…
On May 18, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2021-31 (the “Notice”), which answers many questions about the temporary 100% COBRA premium assistance established under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”). Under the ARPA, employers and insurers are required to offer free COBRA coverage between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021 to any individual who lost coverage due to an employee’s involuntary termination of employment or reduction in work hours and who would be a qualified beneficiary at any time during that period (“Assistance Eligible Individuals” or “AEIs”). Employers and insurers are also eligible to…
Kemper Independence Insurance Company v. Ismet Islami, 2021 WI 53 (June 8, 2021). Earlier this month, in Kemper Independence Ins. Co v. Islami, 2021 WI 53, the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the lower court, finding that the homeowner was not entitled to coverage for the loss of her home to arson. Though legally separated, Ydbi and Ismet Islami remained living in the same household. The fire, which occurred in June of 2013 while Ismet was out of the country, left the property a “total loss” by insurance standards. Ismet and Ydbi signed and submitted a “Sworn Statement…
In a decision that appears to have provided the beginnings of a roadmap to the future of student athlete compensation, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous 9-0 ruling in favor of the players in NCAA v. Alston. Following the ruling, the NCAA may no longer restrict schools from offering education-related compensation and benefits, which include cash awards for academic achievement, graduate degree and vocational school scholarships, computers, and laptops. While the Court only considered the narrow issue of restricting education-related benefits, the Justice Gorsuch opinion and concurrence by Justice Kavanaugh make clear the NCAA’s strong-handed restrictions on market competition for…
After determining that U.S. workers were the most likely to have exposure to COVID-19 in healthcare workplaces, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) on June 10, 2021. The ETS was officially published in the Federal Register on June 21, 2021. The ETS applies to workers who provide healthcare services and healthcare support services, including doctors, nurses, emergency medical personnel, oral health professionals, and employees who provide services in patient admission, food service, equipment and facility maintenance, housekeeping, medical waste handling, and medical equipment cleaning and reprocessing. The ETS exempts from coverage the…
ef17d93b-e767-485f-bd5d-8319f9f625f8-WCA ARPA Guidance.pdf President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) into law on March 11, 2021. ARPA is a $1.9 trillion federal spending package intended to provide economic and other relief related to the covid-19 pandemic. The Wisconsin Counties Association and its general counsel, von Briesen & Roper, s.c., have received many questions surrounding ARPA, interpretation of its terms, and its impact on counties. von Briesen & Roper, s.c. prepared comprehensive guidance for counties regarding the implementation of the Local Fiscal Recovery Fund.…
This article was originally published in The White Collar Crime Committee Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2020, ABA Criminal Justice Section. One of the things that can keep a lawyer up at night is the nagging concern over the often-ambiguous line between legitimately advising a client regarding whether a law pertains to that client or inadvertently facilitating a crime by advising a client on how to favorably interpret a law. Of course, sometimes that line is clear and attorneys still recklessly step over it. Take, for instance, the many New York attorneys that were caught in the 60 Minutes sting reporting of 2016, wherein they appeared…