Member Articles

Compliance with environmental regulations is challenging under the best of circumstances, but the COVID-19 crisis and measures taken in response add a new layer of complexity.  The lack of a consistent message from elected officials and health officers, on the one hand, and from federal and state environmental regulators, on the other, creates a quandary for the business community ...

“With our nation’s health care providers on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19, dollars and cents shouldn’t be adding to their worries.” - CMS Administrator Seema Verma. During this Public Health Emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has expanded its accelerated and advanced payment program (“Program”) to all Medicare-enrolled providers and suppliers (“Providers”) ...

  On March 31, seven Bay Area counties issued stricter shelter-in-place orders and extended their effectiveness to at least May 3 (collectively, the “Orders”). As of the morning of April 2, Napa County noted that it will be joining the other Bay Area counties. Solano County extended the effectiveness of its order, but declined to tighten restrictions ...

On Friday, March 27, 2020, the CARES ACT was signed into law.  The Cares Act includes provisions for changing deadlines for patents, trademarks, and copyrights.  For patents and trademarks, the Act permits the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to change the deadlines imposed by Title 35 of the United States Code, the Trademark Act, Section 18 of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act ...