Inventors and intellectual property attorneys have reason to cheer and fear the Obama administration’s budget for fiscal year 2012. The budget proposes a temporary application fee surcharge and seeks to allow the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) “full access to its fee collections.” These reforms, coupled with potential regulatory and administrative changes winding through…
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About Ian Ferguson
Having graduated from UC Berkeley with research emphases on technology law and policy, Ian leverages this knowledge to blog on a diversity of ethical and political issues at the intersection of technology and society. In recent months, Ian's focus has shifted to health sciences and the many issues posed by the practice of modern medicine. When not writing, Ian enjoys biohacking and blues piano.BP Contests Feinberg’s Gulf Spill Settlement Terms
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To Ensure Proper Service: Patent Fee Surcharge Proposed for 2012
IRS Audits S-Corporation Tax Returns for Evasive Profit Distribution and Salary Maneuvers
The IRS is cracking down on small business owners who take distributions from their S-corporations in lieu of salary. According to the IRS, “distributions and other payments by an S-corporation to a corporate officer must be treated as wages to the extent the amounts are reasonable compensation for services rendered to the corporation.” S-corporation owners…
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Gov’t Loans for Small Business Exporters to Double
The Export-Import Bank of the United States plans to increase small business loans to $6 billion a year this year and $9 billion a year by 2015 as part of the Obama administration’s plan to double exports by 2015. Although the Ex-Im Bank typically supports large companies, the bank is doubling its support for small…
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California’s Online Impersonation Law: Shelter for the Cyber-Bullied
In California, it is a misdemeanor to maliciously impersonate another individual online, punishable by fines up to $1,000 and/or up to a year in jail.…
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