Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Posts for July 14, 2010

WHITE HOUSE REPORT CLAIMS MORE JOBS FROM STIMULUS

July 14, 2010 – Today in Manufacturing.net
New White House report says last year's $862 billion stimulus law has now 'saved or created' between 2.5 million and 3.6 million jobs ... continue

UTAH HOME-BUILDING INDUSTRY BEGINS RECOVERY
July 14, 2010 – UB Daily

July 13, 2010 Economists and researchers at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) at the University of Utah’s Eccles School of Business report that the number of permits issued for new single-family homes in Utah turned positive in July 2009—following 39 consecutive months of decline—and has recorded steady increases for the past 10 months. These findings indicate that Utah’s home-building industry is in the early stages of recovering from the worst contraction in more than 70 years. The data, released in the quarterly BEBR publication Utah Economic and Business Review, showed a 110 percent increase in first-quarter 2010 single-family new home permits compared with Q1 2009 numbers.
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July 14, 2010 – Washington Times

According to the Commerce Department report released Tuesday, the US trade deficit "surged to $42.3 billion in May, a nearly 5 percent increase over April's numbers that reflects strong growth in imports of cars, computers and clothing, " According to a Washington Times story today, the deficit is now at "its highest since November 2008. Since bottoming out about a year ago, US exports have put in a strong performance, growing by 21 percent, as US-made shipments of heavy equipment like tractors and airplanes were scooped up by fast-growing developing nations like China and Brazil."

The Times, quoting Peter Morici, business professor at the University of Maryland, reported that, "Imports are rising much faster than exports, and the overall trade deficit will increase even more sharply when oil prices rebound, threatening the economic recovery." Morici and other analysts also "blame that trade imbalance - particularly the gigantic $300 billion yearly trade deficit with China - for helping to cause the credit and housing bubble that led to" the financial crisis.
RETAIL SALES EDGE DOWN IN JUNE

July 14, 2010 – Today in Manufacturing.net
Commerce Department reported retail spending dropped 0.5 percent in June, falling for the second straight month as the economic recovery slows... continue

OUR VIEW
July 14, 2010

By the Tribune Editorial Board
E-Verify law
Examine federal system closely

The Utah Legislature passed a law this year requir­­ing employers to use the federal E-Verify system to confirm the eligibility of new employees to work in the United States legally. But because the law does not include any penalties, businesses have been slow to use it, essentially ignoring the law. However, before Utah imposes penalties, the Legislature should look much more deeply into this system.

E-Verify is an Internet- based system operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It compares infor­mation that an employee provides on a Form 1-9 ( Em­­ployment Eligibility Verification) to records from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Ad­­ministration. It confirms whether the information provid­­ed by the employee, such as name, date of birth and Social Security number, matches government data.

In most cases, E-Verify will instantly confirm the em­­ployee's work authorization, according to USCIS. Some­­times, however, a manual search is required. If the employ­­ee information does not match government records, the employer must make sure he has not made a mistake in en­­tering the information, and he must inform the employee of how to contact the agency to clear up or appeal the result.

At the time the bill was being debated, we argued that it made little sense to require employers to use a system whose accuracy was questionable. According to one study, E-Verify fails to identify illegal status about 54 percent of the time. But reliable statistics about the system's accu­­racy are hard to find. Some reports suggest that E-Verify correctly identifies people who are eligible to work about 96 percent of the time. The 3.5 percent who fail happens to roughly correspond with the 5 percent of the work force that some studies estimate are in the country illegally. Identity theft also skews any statistics on reliability. In fact, E-Verify may actually encourage identity theft, since a person who presents himself for employment as some­­one else with valid government data would not be caught by the system.

Given the complexity of these questions, it is clear that the Legislature should take a much deeper look at this law. Un­­fortunately, the current political climate, with the divisive debate about the Arizona immigration enforcement law, does not lend itself to calm deliberation. But that should be Utah's goal. Rather than simply impose criminal penalties on busi­­nesses that fail to employ E-Verify, as some legislators ap­­parently are eager to do, lawmakers should take a closer look at the law's consequences, both intended and unintended.
The Do's and Don'ts of Protecting Your Brand in China

July 14, 2010 – Stoel

Stoel Rives, a UMA member company for many years has invited UMA member companies to participate in a special webcast addressing doing business in China. If this is of interest to you, please register and participate.


Protecting your brand in China can be a difficult matter, and it can be tempting to throw up your hands in despair. However, with a proper strategy, it is possible to use the Chinese legal system to gain protection against trademark infringements. Please register to view a complimentary webcast featuring a panel of Chinese attorneys, Stoel Rives attorneys and an American business executive with extensive Chinese experience to learn about the “Dos and Don’ts of Protecting Your Brand in China.” Chinese attorneys Lynn Wang and Zou Weining join Tim Hennessy of Prudent Energy and Stoel Rives Partner Michael E. Mangelson on a panel hosted by Stoel Rives Partner Anne Glazer.

The panel addresses the following:

  • Brand protection strategies in China and other foreign countries
  • Chinese trademark registration and administration
  • Watching and monitoring trademark infringements in China
  • Strategies and methods for enforcing trademark rights in China
  • Related issues for those doing business in China
This seminar was recorded and held simultaneously in the Stoel Rives offices in Portland, Oregon and Salt Lake City, Utah, linked by videoconference, on May 5, 2010.

To view this complimentary webcast (60 minutes plus 40 minutes Q&A), please visit www.stoel.com/chinabrandprotectionwebcast before September 10, 2010.

Contact:
Nicole Kershaw (801) 715-6657 nkershaw@stoel.com

About Our Panelists:

Anne W. Glazer is a Partner at Stoel Rives LLP. She handles all aspects of trademark, copyright and trade secret matters including asset development, risk management, protection strategies, registration, maintenance and conflicts. Ms. Glazer handles all forms of intellectual property licensing, including trademarks, software and patents, and is well versed in entertainment law.

Tim Hennessy is President of Prudent Energy and Former CEO of VRB Power Systems Inc., which was the global leader of VRB technology. Before VRB Power, he served as Vice President of Engineering and Operations and Managing Director of LECTRIX LLC (a Bechtel Siemens AEP JV), Vice President of PacifiCorp’s Energy Services, and Quality of Supply Manager for ESKOM, and was a founder and Principal of Power Quality Technology.

Michael E. Mangelson is a Partner at Stoel Rives LLP and serves as Chair of the firm's China group. He assists clients in protecting and enforcing their business IP, including trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, and in commercializing their IP through licensing and other IP transactions. Mr. Mangelson routinely consults clients on branding and marketing law and long-term IP strategies that help secure and protect market positioning and competitive advantages in the U.S. and abroad. Prior to joining Stoel Rives, Mr. Mangelson lived and worked in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China for six years.

Lynn Wang is Founder and President of Emerging Brands Inc. and Of Counsel at Peksung Intellectual Property Ltd. Ms. Wang joined the Chinese IP profession in 1994 as a trademark attorney with China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd. She has handled internationally prominent trademark matters in China. Her practice focuses primarily on management of trademark, patent, copyright, and IP strategy and other IPR strategy in China. Lynn has worked and lived in the U.S. for many years, which enables her to bring a unique understanding of linguistic, cultural and legal differences to her clients' intellectual property needs in China.

Zou Weining is a Partner at the Jun He Law Offices. Mr. Zou practices in dispute resolution, intellectual property, product liability and foreign investments. Mr. Zou has extensive experience in many areas relating to litigation and arbitration proceedings in China. He has successfully represented many multi-national companies in litigations, arbitrations and administrative proceedings involving intellectual property, product liability, labor disputes, contractual disputes and international trade.

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