Resources

On March 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order directing the Secretary of Education to undertake all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education. For local school districts and charter schools, the order introduces a range of practical and strategic considerations.

For midsized companies engaged in cross-border trade—whether selling overseas or purchasing from foreign suppliers—the ability to enforce contracts is critical. After all, if a contract cannot be enforced, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on. But the unfortunate truth is that relying on courts to enforce cross-border contracts can cost significant time and money. It is therefore all the more important for midsize companies to reduce the risks associated with their cross-border transactions where possible. One potential tool for doing so is international arbitration.

Smith v. Commissioner, a pending research credit case in the United States Tax Court, presents an issue of first impression: Is a partner’s self-employment income in a partnership allowable as a qualified research expense only to the extent that the amount is reasonable within the meaning of former IRC Section 174(e)? The case should interest partners in partnerships and self-employed individuals who perform technological research.     

Starting on March 17, 2025, new U.S. regulations impose sweeping restrictions on the importation and sale of connected vehicles (CV) and related components with ties to China and Russia. Issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the Connected Vehicles Rule (CV Rule) aims to curb potential national security threats posed by foreign-made vehicle connectivity and automated driving systems. These restrictions, which will be phased in over the coming years, require businesses to conduct rigorous supply chain assessments and file compliance declarations. Importers and manufacturers must act now to ensure compliance and avoid steep penalties for violations.

No company would relish the prospect of defending against a class action lawsuit and thousands of related individual arbitrations at the same time. But following a recent federal court ruling, Google (and its parent company, Alphabet) find themselves in exactly that position. The case centers on allegations that Google Assistant-enabled devices recorded users’ private conversations, and Google used the resulting data, without the device users’ consent. The court’s ruling has far-reaching implications for arbitration and class action strategies.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently reversed an ITC determination that claims related to a polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) are ineligible as an abstract idea under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Applying the two-step framework from the Alice Supreme Court opinion, the court held that the PDC claims are not directed to an abstract idea, emphasizing the importance of structure and property correlations in patent application drafting. This decision provides takeaways for patent practitioners, particularly in the chemical and materials fields, on how to draft patent applications with composition of matter claims reciting properties to withstand eligibility challenges.

Defending against numerous individual arbitrations that share common factual and legal issues can cost companies significant time and money. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that such arbitrations can be consolidated when permitted by the applicable arbitration agreement and arbitration rules and affirmed the denial of a petition to compel individual arbitration, reinforcing that arbitration institutions have discretion to apply their own rules, including consolidation procedures, when those rules are incorporated into arbitration agreements. For businesses, this ruling highlights the importance of carefully drafting arbitration agreements, particularly with respect to mass arbitration risks.

The United States has announced the imposition of new tariffs on Canadian goods, effective immediately as of March 4, 2025. These tariffs include a 25% surcharge on a wide range of products imported from Canada. In response to the announcement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford stated that Ontario would implement a reciprocal 25% surcharge on all energy exported by Ontario to the United States, which is expected to have a significant impact on multiple industries including, in particular, manufacturing.

The Michigan Department of Treasury released a draft of a notice regarding the new research and development credit. The notice provides preliminary guidance to taxpayers on eligibility for the credit, how to calculate the unadjusted credit and make a tentative claim, how Treasury will notify taxpayers if total claims exceed the $100 million cap and must be prorated downward, and how taxpayers will claim the adjusted credit. The Department will accept comments on the draft through March 7, 2025.

On March 2, 2025, the United States Department of Treasury announced that it will not enforce fines or penalties based on the existing deadlines for reporting beneficial ownership information under the CTA beneficial ownership reporting rule. This follows earlier guidance issued by FinCEN.