December 2011

As a reminder, this new California state law takes effect on January 1, 2012 and requires retailers and manufacturers with worldwide sales of $100 million or more who do business in California (and doing business is broadly defined) to add information to their websites regarding their efforts to combat slavery and human trafficking. Whether you

Published originally by the Journal of Commerce in November 2011.

Proving yet again that shareholders are no longer willing to tolerate systemic shortcomings from those in charge of public companies, the Louisiana Municipal Police Employees Retirement System has filed a shareholders derivative lawsuit in the Southern District of New York[1] against the officers and

At a webinar on Friday, October 7th, Cindy Allen of Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) office spoke about planned changes regarding liquidation information. As has been previously reported, for money-saving reasons, CBP is doing way with mailing courtesy notices of liquidation to importers as each entry liquidates. While perhaps understandable as

At a recent program in Los Angeles, “IP Meets Pacific Rim, ” Perry Woo of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI,” previously Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and Anne Maricich of Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) described ways companies can protect their IP rights which are worth repeating.

Mr. Woo, Assistant Special Agent in Charge in the Los

Originally published by the Journal of Commerce in October 2011.

As this column goes to print, we are about a year away from the 2012 Presidential election, and it is obvious that partisanship has yet again gotten in the way of productivity. No, this not going to be a commentary about the chaos among Republican

In the December 10, 2011 Canada Gazette, Part I (Volume 145, No. 50), Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade issued the following Notice:

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

NOTICE OF INTENT TO CONDUCT AN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE CANADA-UKRAINE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

The Government of Canada is now conducting an

A “Request for Comments on Canada’s Expression of Interest in the Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement” was published in the Federal Register today (December 7, 2011).  The Offfice of the United States Trade Representative is seeking public comment on the expression of interest by Canada to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement.

By: Chuck Andary, University of Windsor law student

Upon receiving complaints from American ports, the Federal Maritime Commission will hold an inquiry on Canadian ports and whether they are being unfairly subsidized. The ports in question are off the coast of British Columbia and are seeing increased business compared to their American competitors.

The central

By: Sarah Rashid, University of Windsor law student

Canada signed the historic Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on October 1, 2011 in Tokyo Japan, which signifies the path towards greater commitment in combating the international trade in counterfeit and pirated goods. ACTA is considered to be a groundbreaking initiative due to the international convergence on intellectual