Laws + Regulations

Women-owned small businesses will have greater access to federal contracting opportunities as a result of changes included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA) to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Women-owned Small-business Federal Contract Program.

Predictions, speculations and forecasts were the hot topics of the year. With the United States’ success at the summer Olympics, a pivotal presidential election and Hurricane Sandy’s disastrous effects, the United States had its fair share of ground-breaking headlines.

Recently the CPSC took the first steps in more than a decade toward banning a type of product, but that is only one of many actions the commission has taken against businesses recently.

Canon announced the resolution of patent infringement disputes with Clover Holdings Inc., Clover Technologies Group LLC, Clover Vietnam Co. Ltd., Dataproducts USA LLC, Dataproducts Imaging Solutions S.A. de C.V. and CAU Acquisition Company, LLC d/b/a Cartridges Are Us (collectively, "Clover") in the International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, concerning certain toner cartridges and their photosensitive drums sold for use in Canon or Hewlett-Packard laser beam printers.

It has long been possible to make a gun at home. But what happens when it no longer takes knowledge and skill to build one?

It won’t be long before a felon, unable to buy a gun legally, can print one at home. Teenagers could make them in their bedroom while their parents think they are “playing on their computer.” I’m talking about a fully functional gun, where the schematic is downloaded free from the Internet and built on a 3-D printer, all with the click of a button.

The Federal Trade Commission updated its "Green Guide" on Monday which governs the marketing of eco-friendly products, including claims made on packaging, use of green terminology, and third-party certifications in advertising.

As we gear up for the 2012 SGIA Expo, SGIA has announced a new addition to this year's educational program. The Honorable Nancy Nord, Commissioner of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, will sit down for a conversation with SGIA's Marci Kinter about navigating the recent changes to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which went into effect on January 1, 2012.

Upon its implementation, the Act now requires that all children's products be tested and verified so that both lead and phthalate limits are met.

Ralph Nader's Center for Study of Responsive Law released a new report on the Government Printing Office—titled, "The Peoples' Printer: Time for a Reawakening," by Tom W. Ryan with Jeff Musto. In the midst of the digital information age, this report reveals the shortfalls of a GPO that focuses on online information at the expense of print media.

Nader said, "With government information increasingly moving online, unconnected Americans are being left behind. These people are often the most vulnerable and isolated members of our society—the poor, the elderly, and the rural."

In the medical field, lives depend on separating fact from fiction. The same logic applies to distributors looking to penetrate this particular sector.

Several U.S. Senators have introduced the Pay for Printing Act, which would require senators to pay for celebratory or commemorative resolutions out of their own budgets, rather than using taxpayer funds.