In an environment of uncertainty for transgender individuals, New Jersey is on the forefront of creating laws which are aimed to support New Jersey’s transgender community. In July of 2018, Governor Phil Murphy signed a package of bills into law which make important changes to records of vital statistics which are effective February 1, 2019.
Continue Reading Did You Know: New Gender Identity Laws Go into Effect Feb. 1st
Generally, individuals going through a divorce are aware that their assets and debts acquired during the marriage will be divided. Most have acquired assets such as a home, car, bank accounts, and retirement accounts. But increasingly, individuals have more complex assets, including restricted stock options.
In what may seem like a male-dominated industry, the legal cannabis market has attracted many female entrepreneurs and participants who are making a big difference. Encouraged by states’ support for and focus on minority participation, women are taking advantage of opportunities in the developing and maturing legal cannabis space.
In fact, women hold nearly 27% of leadership roles in regulated cannabis compared to the 21% they hold in traditional businesses. Since women make about 80% of the health and wellness decision for traditional American households, women are well poised to create and sell cannabis products, especially those pertaining to luxury or skin-care such as topicals, lotions, candles, balms, and scents.
A generic trademark or brand name is one that—due its popularity or common usage—has become synonymous with a general class of products or services. Famous trademark-turned- generic product names include Thermos and Velcro.
Under U.S. trademark law, generic trademarks can never be federally registered and protected under the Lanham Act (the Trademark Act of 1946) because the mark name refers directly to the class of a product or service it belongs to and is incapable of distinguishing that good or service from other goods or services on the market. Generic names must remain in the public domain, free for the public to use. Moving up the trademark scale of distinguishable marks, descriptive trademarks can be protected from public use if an applicant can show that they have acquired distinctiveness.
Continue Reading Using Top-Level Domains to Overcome the Generic Trademark Bar
New Jersey, like many other states, allows for the cultivation and sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Marijuana is not yet allowed for recreational use in New Jersey. While medical marijuana use and consumption is legal under New Jersey state law, it remains illegal under Federal law, which leads to an interesting and complicated situation when an applicant seeks zoning approvals for a marijuana facility. Planning and/or Zoning Boards are essentially asked to approve a use that is illegal under Federal law.
Continue Reading Obtaining Zoning Approvals for Marijuana Facilities in New Jersey
Last month, Congress approved the final 2018 version of Section 7607 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the “Farm Bill”), which received bipartisan support in the Senate. The Bill removes “hemp,” a variety of the Cannabis sativa plant species, from the Federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) and legalizes hemp cultivation as an agricultural commodity similar to grain, meat, and dairy. Commentators expect the historic new Farm Bill to considerably encourage and promote innovation, development, production, and consumption of hemp in the United States. But to understand the significance of the 2018 version of the Farm Bill, it is important to take a step back and understand what industrial hemp is, what distinguishes it from marijuana, which remains a Schedule 1 prohibited substance, and what the future of hemp looks like in this Country.
Continue Reading No Harm in Growing Hemp on Your Farm: Inside the 2018 Farm Bill
2018 represented another busy year for Chapter 11 retail bankruptcy filings, with Sears dominating the headlines in the last quarter of 2018 and Toys “R” Us closing all of its US stores before the third quarter.
As the New Year unfolds, there could be companies in trouble in 2019. The following are retailers to watch for a possible Chapter 11 filing this year:
Continue Reading Retailers to Watch for a Bankruptcy Filing in 2019
I was in the middle of writing a blog about the 2018 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act and the non-alimony changes, when a friend of mine posted something on Facebook. This is friend who contracted a virus when we were in junior high school which left him in a wheelchair. Yet, he has always been one of the most upbeat and inspirational people I have ever known. He posted a list of 8 things to quit in 2019, and I realized it was the basis for my first post of the New Year. The tax laws will just have to wait.
The top 8 things to Quit in 2019, from a Family Lawyer’s Perspective:
Trying to please everyone: I think this is on the top of the list for a reason. It simply can’t be done, so stop trying! It’s impossible in the best of situations, and when a person is going through a divorce or other family law matter, the guilt of unsuccessfully trying to please everybody is simply going to drag you further into morass. Moreover, the reason it’s impossible even in the best of situations is that it’s not your responsibility to please everyone. It’s your responsibility to act fairly, listen to the other person’s perspective with an open mind, and be the best parent, son, daughter, former spouse or partner you can be.
Continue Reading Top 8 Habits to Quit (from the Perspective of a Family Law Attorney)
A former Cinnabon employee in Washington can now move forward with a proposed antitrust class action suit over the company’s allegedly anticompetitive “no-poaching” agreements. These agreements are alleged to prevent franchises from hiring away workers from other Cinnabon franchises, thereby eliminating wage competition.
It is well known that when parties divorce, there will be an equitable distribution of the marital assets and debts that the parties acquired during the marriage. Many people also know that it rarely matters whose name that the asset or debt was acquired in.
I cannot stress enough that the preparation of a financial statement, or a Case Information Statement, is perhaps the most important step of the entire divorce process. Getting bank balances and mortgage payoff statements is easy, and tasks that no one thinks twice about. However, there are other assets, or benefits in a marriage that are easily overlooked, and can result in an inequity to a spouse if not considered.
Most of us have a credit card (or two, or three) that accumulate miles which can be traded in for airline tickets, hotel points, or some ability to trade points for something of value.
Continue Reading Counting the Miles (And Other Hidden Assets in Divorce)