The long awaited ruling in Mission Products Holding, Inc. v. Tempnology LLC (In re Tempnology) has simplified the intersection of bankruptcy and trademark law, with the court holding that rejection “constitutes a breach” of an executory contract and not an irrevocable termination of the contract.
Tempnology licensed clothing and accessories to Mission Products,
A wage and hour case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising International, is the latest front in the joint employer battle. In Vazquez, unit franchisees of a janitorial service system alleged that they were employees of the franchisor. The District Court granted summary judgment to the Franchisor, based
Today, we welcome guest author Elizabeth G. Hodgson from our Exton, PA office. Elizabeth represents clients in a variety of industries, including food and beverage, Pennsylvania liquor licensing, startup and growth stage companies, hospitality, real estate, technology and financial services. Today, she describes how an upcoming ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court could impact the
On December 28, 2018, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in the Browning-Ferris case. In this much anticipated decision, the Court of Appeals concluded that the National Labor Relations Board’s decision to enumerate a new joint employer test was a valid exercise of its authority. The Court of Appeals held, however, the
Out-of-state franchisors beware of opening a franchise in New Mexico due to the recent decision in A&W Restaurants, Inc. v. Taxation and Revenue Department of the State of New Mexico and the potential for tax liability. The Taxation and Revenue Department of the State of New Mexico (“Dept.”) assessed over $29,000 in unpaid taxes against
In a closely watched 5 to 4 decision authored by retiring Justice Kennedy in South Dakota v. Wayfair, 585 U.S. ___ (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court reversed decades of Supreme Court precedent, giving state and local governments the right to collect sales taxes from out of state retailers on online sales made into the
In Lomeli v. Jackson Hewitt, Inc., the United States District Court in the Central District of California held that the plaintiff, Luis Lomeli (“Lomeli”), had submitted enough evidence to hold the franchisor (“Jackson Hewitt”) vicariously liable for potential class actions due to a franchisee’s preparation and submission of fraudulent tax returns. The most concerning
The fight against joint employment of franchisors and franchisees took a small hit when the Western District of Pennsylvania (“Court”) chose to allow a franchisee’s employee’s suit to proceed. In Harris v. Midas, et. al., the plaintiff, Hannah Harris (“Harris”), convinced the Court that she had proffered enough evidence to allege a plausible basis
Below is a Guest blog post authored by our own Michael Viscount:
A concern for franchisees is the impact on license agreements for intellectual property when the licensor files bankruptcy and seeks to shed itself of burdensome obligations under license agreements. The impact on the licensee is different depending on the type of IP licensed.
In December, we wrote that the NLRB had issued a decision overturning Browning-Ferris’ joint employer test and returning to the previous standard for determining joint employment. That decision in Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors was seen as a return to sanity by employers and pro-business groups.
Unfortunately, the NLRB announced today that it had vacated the Hy-Brand