On June 5, 2008 the State Council promulgated the Compendium of China National Intellectual Property Strategy ("Compendium"), vowing to build China into a country with a comparatively higher level of intellectual property rights ("IPR") creation, utilization, protection and administration by 2020.

EU manufacturers and importers of chemicals are beginning to feel the full impact of REACH legislation. REACH established a “preregistration period” for chemical substances that began on June 1, 2008 and is scheduled to close on December 1, 2008.

The US Treasury (Internal Revenue Service) issues a revenue ruling each month with interest rates.

During the private equity boom of 2005 to 2007, the so-called "go shop" provision emerged as a new deal-making device as private equity buyers sought the benefits of exclusivity, while directors of target companies sought to satisfy their Revlon duties to conduct an adequate sale process.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), issued an interim rule revising the list of documents acceptable for the employment eligibility verification process.

In December 2007 Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) amended the ITAR by adopting new Section 124.16 (Special Retransfer Authorizations for Unclassified Technical Data and Defense Services to Member States of NATO and the European Union, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland) and revising Sections 126.1 (Prohibited Exports and Sales to Certain Countries) and 127.12 (Voluntary Disclosures).

“The “Fortune” 200 companies in the United States now find that most of their revenue is coming from foreign sales,” says Rob Portman, who served as the U.S. trade representative in the current administration and is now of counsel to Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.

In an attempt to address concerns over the current backlog of patent applications and quality of issued patents, the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has issued a series of proposed changes to the rules governing the patent procurement process.

The Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 (FINSA), signed by President Bush earlier this year, will clarify and enhance government scrutiny of acquisitions of critical infrastructure assets by non-US investors.

Industry anxiously awaits the new exemption in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) for the United Kingdom. The exemption is based on the US-UK treaty that created a framework for facilitating trade in defense articles and services between the two countries and that promotes the interoperability of their armed forces and security agencies. The US administration is optimistic that the treaty will receive Senate ratification in late 2007, and a change in the regulations will follow

The major search engine companies Google, Yahoo! and MSN among them generate revenue from their sale of search terms as a way to generate advertising revenue.

Responding to industry complaints, on January 30, 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a last-minute stay of contentious testing and certification requirements for children's products that were scheduled to take effect on February 10, 2009.

The Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 (FINSA), signed by President Bush earlier this year, will clarify and enhance government scrutiny of acquisitions of critical infrastructure assets by non-US investors.

Following the lead of several European central banks, the U.S. Treasury announced on October 14 a capital purchase program (the "Program") pursuant to which it will purchase up to $250 billion of preferred stock to be issued by U.S. banks, savings associations and their holding companies.

On May 19, 2008 the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Regarding the Application of the PRC Company Law (II) (the "Provisions") became effective.

The Northern District of California is one of the most popular venues for patent litigation.

On October 3, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 ("Act"), which has few if any precedents in scope, national attention, and potential impact on the US economy, especially with regard to the real estate market.

Industry anxiously awaits the new exemption in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) for the United Kingdom. The exemption is based on the US-UK treaty that created a framework for facilitating trade in defense articles and services between the two countries and that promotes the interoperability of their armed forces and security agencies.

Everybody receiving this Bulletin will have received a copy of our summary of the Budget proposals announced on 12 March. The Finance Bill has now been published and we can rejoice that the details are available to resolve the finer points on Residence, the £30,000 domicile charge, the remittance basis, offshore trusts, offshore companies, capital gains tax, rebasing, Entrepreneur Relief, etc.

Guidant Corporation Settles Charges Pertaining to License Violation: Guidant Corporation agreed to pay US$277,017 to settle allegations of violating the Iranian Transactions Regulations and Iraqi Sanctions Regulations between July 2000 and July 2004.