Exempt Economic Landscape
Tax-exempt organizations are currently facing a tremendous measure of financial pressure and volatility. Throughout this current economic crisis in the United States, exempt organizations must reevaluate not only their corporate structure, but also their operational efficiencies and regulatory compliance.
As Milton Friedman famously stated, “the social responsibility of business is to increase profits.” Along the same lines the Revlon decision required corporate directors to base their decision-making upon serving the financial interests of shareholders by increasing profits rather than consider non-financial interests of other stakeholders. Arguably, with a few exceptions, this type of thinking was absorbed into the corporate culture of the past 10-15 years.
Gregory P. Bergethon was recently interviewed by the Virginian-Pilot regarding a pending suit filed in Virginia alleging defamation by a California based radio station.
In these troubled economic times, many financially distressed borrowers have had some or all of their debt cancelled or forgiven by various lenders. While that was no doubt welcome relief to those who received it, many have not realized that the amount of the forgiven debt may have to be included as taxable income on their income tax return.
For owners of small businesses and their workers, the recently enacted health reform legislation has some key provisions to pay attention to. The major ones include: tax credits; excise taxes; and penalties. But whether a business will be affected by them depends on a variety of factors, such as the number of employees the business has. The following is an overview of the provisions in the new law with the biggest impact on small business.
On March 18, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE Act) H.R. 2847. The legislation is largely focused on accelerating the hiring of unemployed workers, but also contains various provisions affecting foreign activities of US businesses.
The proper use of marks is crucial, in any campaign to acquire, register, or maintain them. Proper use preserves a mark’s ability to identify the origin of products or services, and increases the mark’s potential for “secondary meaning.” Proper use minimizes the likelihood that a mark will become generic, or be abandoned, unintentionally, by its rightful owner. Proper use also strengthens trademark registrations, and overcomes defenses raised in trademark litigation. The most compelling point to remember is that trademark rights are based upon use. For this reason alone, anyone who cares about her mark, will want to use it properly, and will want others to do so as well.