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OMB and DoL Direct Agencies to Appoint Labor Compliance Advisors Pursuant to "Fair Pay" EO

Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.09.15

On March 5, OMB and DoL circulated a Memorandum to federal agencies regarding the "Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces" Executive Order (previously discussed here, and here), providing "guidance" with respect to the Labor Compliance Advisor role created by the EO, and directing agencies to designate within 90 days a senior-level official to serve as LCA. The memo, which reiterates the troubling scope and nature of the new position (i.e., "providing assistance to contracting officers" during the procurement process, "advising … contracting officers and other agency officials regarding recommended actions to be taken in response to labor law violations," and "sending any relevant information to suspending and debarring officials"), also states that GSA will create a new web site for the labor compliance reporting requirements identified in the EO, and indicates that FAR Council regulatory action and additional DoL guidance will be forthcoming.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25

Design Patent Application Drawings & Prosecution History Must Be Clear (Merely Translucent Won’t Suffice!)

Design patents offer protection for the ornamental appearance of a product, focusing on aspects like its shape and surface decoration, as opposed to the functional aspects protected by utility patents. The scope of a design patent is defined by the drawings and any descriptive language within the patent itself. Recent decisions by the Federal Circuit emphasize the need for clarity in the prosecution history of a design patent in order to preserve desired scope to preserve intentional narrowing (and to avoid unintentional sacrifice of desired claim scope)....