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What You Don't Know About Purchase Orders Can Bite You
Contractors: there may be trouble brewing in your everyday purchase of equipment and materials. It’s possible you just don’t know it yet. For example, that construction contract you signed last week bound you to a scope of work, specifications, a schedule and a two-year warranty. You are bound to comply with the schedule or face liquidated damages for delays.
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Court Blocks Non-Attorney From Preparing Mechanic's Lien
In a case that could spell doom for non-attorney consultants who prepare mechanic’s liens on their clients’ behalf, a Hennepin County court recently held that such practice is illegal.
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Do You Know What Your Arbitration Clause Says?
Whether a construction claim should be heard by an arbitrator or litigated in a court of law is a common issue in construction-related disputes. If you operate in the construction industry, chances are your contracts’ arbitration clauses incorporate the AAA Construction Industry Arbitration Rules and Mediation Procedures, a set of standardized arbitration rules promulgated by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) specifically for construction contracts.
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What Does the Supreme Court’s Recent Remand of Medtronic v. NuVasive Mean for a “Reasonable Ignorance” Defense?
Medtronic v. NuVasive is a patent infringement case involving a Medtronic device which monitors nerve activity during spinal surgery. NuVasive claims that the device can be used to infringe its patent, U.S. Pat No. 7470236, and that Medtronic was liable for indirect infringement on the grounds that it instructed doctors how to use the product in an infringing manner.
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Naruto: Photography and Monkey Business
David Slater is a British nature photographer who traveled to Indonesia in 2011. During a photo shoot in the jungle, he set his camera on a tripod. A Macaque monkey named, Naruto, walked up to the camera, pressed the shutter button, and took some pictures of himself – simian selfies. The pictures turned out to be charming and hilarious and they went viral. Mr. Slater registered the copyrights in the photos in England.
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Building a Quality Patent Portfolio
Michelle Lee, current Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, has made it a point to increase the quality of patents that it issues. As part of the “Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative,” the USPTO will strive to issue patents that are both “correct and clear.” System-wide, issuing correct and clear patents will help to reduce inefficiencies created when patents are invalid, overly vague or include some combination of issues, and then asserted as infringed by a specific device sold by a competitor.
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Court Watch: Franchise Alert - February 2016
In the February 2016 issue of the Law Journal Newsletter’s Franchising Business & Law Alert, Bryan Huntington and Henry Pfutzenreuter contributed two articles, "Court Dismisses Franchise Act Claims" and "Court Grants Franchisor's Motion to Compel Arbitration."
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Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) Extended
Paul Linstroth and Bob Long released a co-written article, Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) Extended.
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Update on Financial Performance Representations (FDD Item 19)
In January each year, Franchise Times features their annual “20 to Watch” in franchising for the year. In addition to listing our long time client, Anytime Fitness, at the top of the list, this year’s list includes the North American Securities Administrators Association’s pending Commentary on financial performance representations as one of the top 20 things or people to watch in franchising in 2016. In our last newsletter, we reported that the Commentary had been issued for public comment. NASAA received extensive comments, and the task force that issued the Commentary has been scheduling at least two conference calls a month to work their way through the comments. What does this mean for franchisors?
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A New Year, a New Day: The Amendments to the California Franchise Relations Act Are Now in Effect
For franchisors with franchisees in California, ringing in the New Year means navigating a new regulatory landscape. All franchise agreements renewed or entered into after January 1, 2016, as well as existing indefinite ones that are terminable without cause, are now subject to the amendments to the California Franchise Relations Act (“CFRA”), which the California legislature passed in fall 2015.[1] The amendments to the CFRA make significant changes to the transfer, termination, and nonrenewal of franchises in California, as well as the resulting remedies available to franchisees. While there are some ambiguities that will need to be resolved by the courts, it is clear that franchisors will have a number of new issues to consider when deciding how to deal with franchisees in California.
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Metro Cities Contemplate Controversial Housing Policies
In the November-December 2015 issue of the BATC Digest, Peter Coyle and Bryan Huntington contributed an article entitled, "Metro Cities Contemplate Controversial Housing Policies," which appeared on pages 40-42.
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Limited Partnerships Must be Represented by an Attorney in State District Court
In a ruling issued November 9, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held that a limited partnership could not represent itself in district court without licensed counsel. Minnesota courts have previously held that corporations and limited liability companies must have licensed counsel in court, but this is the first time a Minnesota appellate court has addressed whether limited partnerships also must be represented by counsel.
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Minnesota Court of Appeals Strikes Down Sprinkler Rule
Larkin Hoffman real estate litigation attorneys Rob Stefonowicz and Bryan Huntington successfully obtained a declaratory judgment from the Minnesota Court of Appeals invalidating an administrative rule while representing the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (“BATC”). Specifically, BATC challenged a rule adopted by the Minnesota Department of Labor & Industry (“DLI”) requiring residential fire sprinklers in all newly-constructed single- and two-family homes, except for those single-family homes under 4,500 square feet (the “Sprinkler Rule”).
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Minnesota Property Tax Watch for Taxes Payable in 2016
Minnesota taxpayers will soon have their first real glimpse of their 2016 real estate property tax obligations. Assessed values for 2016 taxes were sent in March or April, but many times the notices of value are filed away without much scrutiny. Now, taxpayers should expect to receive truth-in-taxation notices by November 24, 2015.
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Court of Appeals Rejects Tenant's Argument in Delivery-of-Premises Case
The Minnesota Court of Appeals recently decided an issue of interest to residential landlords in Minnesota – whether a tenant who paid a security deposit and first month’s rent, but had not moved into the leased premises, was a “residential tenant.” The court of appeals said “no” in Cocchiarella v. Driggs, which means that even though the tenant paid, the tenant cannot force the landlord to deliver possession of the premises under a certain Minnesota statute.
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Collect Releases Like you Collected Baseball Cards
Chuck Modell's article, Collect Releases Like you Collected Baseball Cards, appeared in the Fall 2015 edition of The Franchise Lawyer.
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Court Watch: Franchise Alert - November 2015
In the November 2015 issue of the Law Journal Newsletter’s Franchising Business & Law Alert, Cynthia Klaus and Bryan Huntington contributed two articles, "Franchisees and Dealers Should Plead Causation In Actions Against The Government" and "Michigan Court Transfers Case Brought By 41 Franchisees to Franchisor's Home State."
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Keys for Successfully Mediating Franchise Disputes
Chuck Modell's article, Keys for Successfully Mediating Franchise Disputes, appeared in the Fall 2015 edition of the Law Journal Newsletter's – Franchising Business & Law Alert®.
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It Can Be Done: An Employer’s Challenge to an OSHA Citation was Recently Upheld by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
The U.S. Secretary of Labor (“Secretary”) acts through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) to create and enforce workplace health and safety standards. The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (the “Commission”) is the final administrative decision maker in federal OSHA claims. Typically, the Commission affirms the Secretary’s interpretation and enforcement of a particular standard. This case is unusual because the employer won: the Commission refused to adopt the Secretary’s interpretation and the Commission’s decision was affirmed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. In Minnesota, the state OSHA agency enforces most federal OSHA standards. Those states with state OSHA agencies do the same.
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Minneapolis City Council Considering Requiring Sick Leave and Scheduling Obligations for All Employers
The Minneapolis City Council is currently considering a sweeping new ordinance that would mandate all employers in Minneapolis to provide sick leave to their employees, and impose broad requirements with respect to scheduling shifts. The proposal is supported by Mayor Betsy Hodges and a committee which the city council created earlier this year.
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