Client Alerts

As a firm founded in Detroit, Butzel Long sympathizes with the people of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as they embark upon the uncertain path of governmental bankruptcy. By commencing its proceedings with an estimated $123 Billion in debt ($49 Billion in pension debt and $74 Billion in bond and other claims), Puerto easily surpassed Detroit as the largest ever United States governmental bankruptcy. Puerto Rico’s approximately 3.5 million citizens each carry an unsustainable pro rata debt burden of $35,125 (not including their share of the United States’ national budget deficit), and Puerto Rico’s government has not been able to provide adequate services to its people because of its debt load.

One of the hallmarks of the Trump Administration is its intention to shake up the old way of doing things in Washington. To that end, the President has issued Executive Orders that require Executive Agencies to put in place procedures for reexamining all of their regulations and to develop a comprehensive plan for reorganizing the Executive Branch.

Strong intellectual property (“IP”) rights are the cornerstone of success for many companies looking to keep pace in today’s rapidly developing marketplace for new and advanced automotive technologies. Butzel Long works with automotive suppliers to help them navigate each phase of the IP lifecycle, from procuring rights all the way through enforcement campaigns in federal and state courts, and before the International Trade Commission. To keep our clients informed and up to date on what is happening in the world of IP, the Butzel Long IP Bulletin highlights recent patent, trademark and copyright news, issues and case law with special emphasis on the automotive industry. If you would like to receive more information about a particular case, issue or news item, or have any questions regarding our practice, please feel free to contact your Butzel Long attorney.

Items in this Bulletin:

• NEW AUTOMOTIVE PATENT INFRINGEMENT COMPLAINTS
• MICHIGAN MAY BE SEEING MORE PATENT INFRINGEMENT CASES
• U.S. TRADE REP. SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON AUTOMOTIVE IP

Franchise industry watchers are drawn once again to the “Golden Arches,” as McDonald’s heads toward its annual shareholder meeting later this month in Oak Brook, Illinois.  There, up for vote, will be a proposed shareholder resolution, which, if passed, would assign a new class of preferred stock to the company’s franchisees, enabling them to elect one person to the corporate board of directors without the consent of common shareholders.  Each franchisee would receive one share of the preferred stock for each restaurant he or she owns.  The shareholder that submitted the proposal is a single trust owning more than 5,000 shares in McDonald’s.  

Michigan Gets Aggressive in Its Efforts to Combat Opioid Abuse.

On April 11, 2017, the State unveiled its new Michigan Automated Prescription System (“MAPS”), which significantly overhauled its predecessor system. The updated MAPS is just one step in the State’s Action Plan presented to Governor Snyder in October 2015 by his Michigan Prescription Drug and Opioid Abuse Task Force.  Effective April 4, 2017, Users and Data Submitters of MAPS were no longer able to access the old System. Registration for the new MAPS opened March 8 and 9, 2017 for Data Submitters (Clearinghouses) and certain Users (Practitioners and Pharmacists), respectively. Registration for other Users (government agencies, law enforcement, and Pharmacy Benefit Managers) opened March 16, 2017.

Starting April 3, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B petitions. 

On February 24, President Trump issued an “Executive Order on Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda” (“EO”) that requires every executive department and agency to establish within 60 days a Regulatory Reform Officer (“RRO”) to implement the president’s regulatory reform agenda for reviewing and reducing regulatory burdens.

FCA US has revised its Production and Mopar Purchasing General Terms and Conditions to include a new dispute resolution provision which among things, provides FCA with the unilateral right to compel an expedited baseball style arbitration “in cases of disputes relating to quality, warranty, or indemnification under Section 6, 8, or 11 of the terms, including claims in connection with vehicle recalls or customer satisfaction campaign.” (Hereinafter collectively “Recall/Warranty Disputes”). Other matters are arbitrable only by mutual agreement and they too are subject to the expedited rules. (FCA revised terms, § 26(c) and Annex A).

We continue to receive information and updates concerning the Executive Order signed by President Trump on January 27, 2017.

On Friday January 27, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order (“Order”) relating to visa issuance, admission to the U.S. procedures, and refugees. The Order is titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States."

A New Outlook From The White House? Following eight years of a Democratic President with a career businessman will likely lead to a regulatory climate that is more friendly to business generally. However, the legal framework that emphasizes corporate compliance will not likely change in the near future.

Does offering incentives to disclose medical information violate the ADA and GINA?

Many companies have jumped on the “wellness” bandwagon, offering programs in varying forms to their employees and employees’ families to promote health and prevent disease. These programs support companies’ legitimate interests in managing health coverage costs, encouraging employees to take a more active role in their health care coverage and promoting employee satisfaction. To induce participants, companies often offer incentives in the form of health coverage premium discounts.

We previously published a Client Alert concerning NHTSA’s proposal to establish a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) -- No. 150 – that would mandate vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications for new light vehicles and to standardize the message and format of V2V transmissions. client-alert-detail/NHTSAa-Proposal-to-Mandate-that-Automobile-Manufactures-Incorporate-Vehicle-to-Vehicle-Capabilities-into-New-Cars.html As we explained, because V2V communications can be a critical component of automated vehicle technologies, the automobile industry should take this opportunity to comment on the NHTSA proposals. NHTSA will rely on the record developed in this proceeding to determine whether V2V should be mandated, as well as whether any of the details of its proposals should be adopted as proposed or refined in some ways. The comment date will be triggered by the publication of the NHTSA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register, which has now been scheduled to occur on January 12, 2017. Comments are due 90 days after that date, which would be April 12, 2017. Lawyers with Butzel Long will be happy to assist with formulating and submitting comments to NHTSA.

Automotive technology continues to dominate the talk of CES.  From ultrasonic holographic haptic controls to advanced mapping software that augments the driver’s reality, it is clear that mobility technology is a hot commodity.  Accompanying these advances are specific legal issues that follow the 2017 legal takeaways highlighted in yesterday’s summary Staying Connected at CES 2017.

With CES underway, it is clear that the automobile is poised to be the king of the show. Faraday Future demonstrated the ups and downs of emerging technology, particularly the default mode programming. The Toyota Concept-i offers a vehicle that wants to establish a "relationship" with its drivers. The Chrysler Portal highlights the ingenuity that millennial engineers bring to the user interface of electric and autonomous vehicles.

Major changes to U.S. trade policy, such as withdrawal from NAFTA, were among the most prominent of Donald Trump’s campaign promises.  Now that he is the President-elect, it is most appropriate to examine current law to ascertain whether he can deliver on those campaign promises.  

On December 9, 2016, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed landmark autonomous vehicle legislation, placing Michigan as one of the most manufacturer-friendly states to develop and test driverless systems. As we noted in our August 11, 2016 Alert, this legislation is unique in that it allows testing of vehicles without the presence of driver, a direction that will significantly impact the mobility economy.

What NHTSA is Proposing

On December 13th, NHTSA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) that would require automobile manufacturers to incorporate vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications capabilities into all new light vehicles (https://www.nhtsa.gov/About-NHTSA/Press-Releases/nhtsa_v2v_proposed_rule_12132016). The NPRM would also proposed standardized Basic Safety Messages (BSM) communicated between vehicles to ensure interoperability. NHTSA does not propose initially to mandate or specify particular applications using the V2V communications (such as Intersection Movement Assist (IMA) and Left Turn Assist (LTA)), but would allow the industry to develop and deploy particular safety applications.

President Obama signed the “21st Century Cures Act” on December 13, 2016, which included a critical change to the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) affecting certain small employers. Specifically, employers that are exempt from the “pay-or-play” rules of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) may now offer employees a “qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangement” (“QSEHRA”) for plan years beginning after December 31, 2016.