By: Jennifer Gomes While the race to market for the COVID-19 vaccines may be a thing of the past, companies have taken the fight from the labs and manufacturing floors to the courts. A complex web of patent infringement litigation has developed between competing vaccine manufacturers Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, both in the U.S. and abroad.… Read More Biotech Companies Continue to Throw Jabs Over Covid Shot
By: Alex Crowley It is no secret that many law firms have historically stymied work-life balance for attorneys. By imposing significant billable hour requirements, these firms instill constant pressure to work long office hours in an effort to bolster profits and determine which attorneys are dedicated to career development. A 2018 legal trends study by… Read More Time for a Change: Why Law Firms Should Embrace Hybrid Work Setting Practices
By: Karlie Rubin Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris Administration announced its agenda to reduce America’s emissions in the industrial sector. According to the fact sheet that was released by the White House, the industrial sector is key to tackling climate change issues. In addition, this Administration is looking to advance its decarbonization technologies during… Read More Is Net Zero Carbon Emissions By 2050 Feasible with the New Biden-Harris Administration Roadmap?
This blog discusses the regulatory implications of wearable technology such as WHOOP and FitBit that have made an effort to use respiratory patterns in their devices to detect COVID-19 pre-symptoms. This blog further analyzes how the fact that wearable technology is often not considered a medical device effects how the technology is regulated. Finally, this blog explores how the federal standards among medical devices and wearable tech is likely to change in a post-pandemic world and looks at what wearable technology may expect from federal regulators going forward.… Read More All Hands Meeting for the Health-Conscious, Post-Pandemic: Wearable Technologies Turned Medical Devices and the FDA
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic disproportionately affected Black and Brown entrepreneurs, compared to their White counterparts. From February to April 2020, CNN Business reported there was a 41% closure rate in Black-owned businesses and a 32% drop in Latino-owned businesses. Meanwhile, White entrepreneurs experienced only a 17% closure rate. However, Black and Brown entrepreneurs have received unprecedented support from Americans outraged by police brutality and the tragic murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery, while motivated to make a difference in racial injustice and economic inequity. In its efforts to promote equality and end racism, the Black Lives Matter movement has contributed to a sharp rise in Black-owned businesses ’ global online sales.… Read More Black-Owned Business during the Coronavirus Pandemic just might be saved.
This blog details Instagram’s newly developed bullying-prevention and bullying detection tools as part of the social media giant’s anti-bullying initiative. This blog further explains how with the transition to virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cyberbullying has risen. Finally, this blog will suggest approaches companies like Instagram can take to further their anti-bullying efforts in today’s virtual world through more effective preventative and educational tools.… Read More The War on Bullying Continues: Instagram is Fighting but COVID-19 Calls for Innovative Anti-Bullying Tactics
Until a vaccine becomes available, primary ways of preventing the transmission of COVID-19 include interventions such as contact tracing. The scale and speed needed for such tracing are unprecedented, and technology companies have worked quickly to collaborate with various public health experts to develop tools, such as smartphone apps, that aid in COVID-19 response efforts. Many of these technologies present numerous risks and concerns, such as how data is gathered and used, as well as how to integrate these tools into the public health infrastructure. The success of these technologies and their associated risks heavily depend on public support and trust in these companies and the government that privacy rights and protections under the Fourth Amendment will be preserved.… Read More Digital Contact Tracing and its Privacy Implications: Is Artificial Intelligence Crucial to Our Health Care System?
This blog looks at the successes and difficulties that Amazon, Inc. has faced in the COVID-19 era, specifically discussing how the pandemic has affected the company’s relationship with its employees. Primarily, there have been multiple lawsuits filed against the company by their employees relating to the safety of the warehouse environment. … Read More The Tests and Triumphs of Amazon in the COVID-19 Era
The SAFE DATA Act introduced a comprehensive federal privacy bill consisting of three previous proposals. Touting bipartisan support and years of analysis, the SAFE DATA Act intends to provide Americans with more choice and control over their personal data and directs businesses to be more transparent and accountable for their data gathering practices. Additionally, the SAFE DATA Act seeks to enhance the Federal Trade Commission’s authority by imposing injunctive relief and other remedies in the case of violations. Yet, the act’s poor timing and innate shortcomings lead some data privacy advocates to question whether it will have any impact on federal privacy legislation at all.… Read More Data Privacy Pastiche: Discussing the SAFE DATA Act’s Viability as a Federal Privacy Proposal
Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have seen a rise in ransomware cyber-attacks. OFAC has issued an advisory reminding companies that they are at risk of facing penalties if they chose to pay the perpetrator. … Read More Ooops, Your Important Files Have Been Encrypted!
Brief Description: Historically, Election Day meant a trip to your local polling place to cast your ballot, followed by an evening of watching the televised election results roll in from across the county. This year, however, concerns about the Coronavirus have prompted states to reassess voting procedures ahead of the 2020 presidential election. In an already historic election year, these changes prompted backlash and sparked lawsuits in the weeks and months leading up to the election.… Read More Voting in the 2020 Election: COVID, Mail-In Maelstrom Spark Legal Challenges, Delayed Counts
This blog discusses how increased e-commerce since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic affects the protection of consumers. It then analyzes existing policies aimed at protecting consumer data as well as what companies are doing moving forward to ensure fraudulent activity that can exploit consumers is prevented. … Read More Online Shopping Obsession: Consumer Security Risks Brought on By E-Commerce Spike Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
Following in California’s footsteps, Massachusetts filed suit against Uber and Lyft, seeking declaratory judgment that the companies’ drivers are employees, not independent contractors. Employees are offered important protections under Massachusetts Wage and Hour Laws, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only highlighted the need for these benefits for Massachusetts workers.… Read More COVID-19 Highlights Ride-Share Employment Issues: Massachusetts Takes Action
This blog is about the patent liability ramifications of 3D printing medical devices during the global pandemic.… Read More 3D Printing: Rectifying a Global Pandemic with the Push of a Button
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many court systems implemented remote grand juries to resume the criminal justice process. While this system is a way for grand juries to continue remotely, it also poses serious risks to the integrity of the process.… Read More Jury Duty in Your Jammies: The Pros and Cons of Virtual Grand Juries
Although technology can greatly assist clients in seeking and retaining legal counsel, lack of access to adequate technological resources is detrimental to the administration of justice and raises significant due process concerns for people of color. … Read More Accessing Due Process and [Social] Justice in the Midst of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted our global society and changed the way society functions. COVID-19 poses a serious threat to individuals’ ability to vote. With state primaries and the 2020 presidential election looming, states and lawmakers are frantically trying to solve the issue of voting access and voter security during a time of social distancing and quarantine restrictions. … Read More Privacy Risks vs. Public Health: How to Vote During A Pandemic