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Once a proposed mark has been chosen, it is always a good idea to have your trademark attorney conduct a trademark search. Even if you are not aware of any competitors or related companies that use the same name it does not mean that there are none. A trademark search will also look for marks that are “confusingly similar” to the mark being searched or are likely to cause confusion in the consuming public. We will discuss the concept of confusing similarity and likelihood of confusion in the context of trademark infringement in a later post.

If you are considering several marks, it may be possible to narrow the field by conducting a quick Internet search using Google or a similar search engine. If that search finds a direct hit, you can quickly move on to your next contender. This strategy can save time and money for when the final options need to have a closer look taken by your trademark attorney.

Patricia Smith, U.S. Department of Labor solicitor, recently announced the final rules regarding the changes to the FLSA White Collar Exemption Regulations will be published in July 2016. She also indicated the regulations will be effective 60 days after their publication. This means the changes will become effective no later than September 2016.

Selecting a strong trademark is the key to being able to protect the trademark. As we discussed last week, the first and central step in branding is selecting your trademarks, which will serve to promote your reputation and help your company stand out among your competition. However, when choosing a name for a product or service, the inherent strength of mark should be considered as this will affect many things going forward from the cost of a search to your ability to stop others from using similar names.

“Branding” is one of the most popular buzz words in the advertising and marketing arena. But what does it mean to have a “brand” and what is needed to create and maintain your “brand”? Is it really important for a small physician’s office or local hospital? The short answer is yes – branding is important, even for small providers.

Husch Blackwell Labor and Employment attorneys Terry Potter and Robert Rojas presented a webinar Feb. 3, 2016, on Workplace Safety vs. Workplace Gun Rights. The webinar focused on the legal landscape of current gun legislation, how certain legislation effects employers and the workplace, and how to minimize any risks associated with that legislation. Workplaces, including those in the healthcare industry, are facing the effects of such laws.

On Feb. 12, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (“HHS”) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published its final rule regarding reporting and returning Medicare overpayments. This final rule comes nearly four years after its proposed rule regarding the reporting and return of Medicare overpayments that left the provider community nervous and uncertain about when an overpayment would be considered “overdue” under CMS’s vague 60-day standard.

The following is Part VI of a six-part series of blog postings regarding whether a captive insurance subsidiary or one owned by the owners or affiliates of a company may represent an effective risk management tool that also provides economic benefits. Although there are various types of captive insurance, this posting will focus primarily on single parent/pure captives and how they might provide economic benefits for you or your healthcare company. Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV and Part V of the blog series are here. This posting provides an overview of certain other considerations to forming a single parent or pure captive.    

Gov. John Bel Edwards signed an executive order Jan. 19, 2016, to make Louisiana the 32nd state to adopt Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Montana’s Medicaid expansion became effective Jan. 1, and South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming are including Medicaid expansion in upcoming state budget proposals.

This is reflective of a growing trend of so-called “red” states that are nevertheless adopting provisions of the Affordable Care Act that subsidize healthcare costs for new groups of citizens who cannot afford commercial or exchange insurance products and do not qualify for Medicare. To sweeten the pot, the Obama administration announced its 2017 budget proposal will include a legislative proposal to provide any state that expands Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act with the same three years of full federal funding that states that expanded their Medicaid programs in 2014 enjoyed.