The EU has published a trade mark reform package for 2016, comprising a new Community Trade Mark (CTM) Regulation and Trade Mark Directive.
The Regulation, which sets out the rules and procedures governing CTMs, will come into effect on 23 March 2016. The updated Trade Mark Directive will introduce a number of similar provisions in respect of national trade mark systems, however, its provisions will not come into effect until January 2019.Continue Reading Trade Mark Reform Scheduled for 2016
Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) intend to serve legal proceedings on the Government in the coming days, claiming that the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has acted in breach of EU law by failing to ensure that the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) exercises her role independently. The High Court is to be asked to make a referral to the EU’s highest court for a ruling on whether the DPC is truly independent under EU law.
Continue Reading Independence of ODPC called into question
The Department of Justice yesterday published the Criminal Justice (Offences Relating to Information Systems) Bill 2016. The Bill, which is long overdue, will replace some of the existing patchwork of cybercrime legislation.
The primary purpose of the Bill is to transpose the European Directive 2013/40 or the Cybercrime Directive as it is more commonly known. The Cybercrime Directive is aimed at harmonising Member States’ criminal law in the area of cybercrime by creating minimum rules for the definition of cybercrime offences and the relevant sanctions and to improve cooperation between competent authorities.Continue Reading The Cybercrime Bill is here
There have been intense negotiations between EU and US officials on an "Umbrella Agreement" or "Safe Harbour 2.0" following the European Court of Justice’s Schrems decision last October. Progress was reported but no political solution has yet been reached. Continue Reading Safe Harbour 2.0: Where are we now?
The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) has published updated guidance on the use of CCTV, and new guidance on the use of Body Worn Cameras and Drones. While guidance issued by the DPC is not legally binding, it is regarded as best practice, and organisations should take steps to comply with same.Continue Reading DPC issues guidance on CCTV, Body Worn Cameras and Drones
In Barbulescu v Romania, a case concerning employees’ right to privacy, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held that an employer could monitor and access personal messages sent by an employee during work hours from his Yahoo Messenger account. The decision, however, is not a precedent for unrestricted monitoring by employers of personal messages sent by employees during office hours.Continue Reading ECHR rules employer can monitor personal messages sent by employee
A San Francisco judge has indicated that the monkey who took a suite of selfies when a photographer’s camera was left unattended in the jungle is not entitled to ownership of the copyright in the images. The judge said that while the protection of the law can be extended to animals, there is nothing to suggest that this protection reached as far as giving animals rights under copyright legislation.
The case was taken last year by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), who claimed copyright infringement on behalf of the monkey and sought an order allowing it to…
Continue Reading San Francisco Court: No Copyright Ownership for Monkey
The draft of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took a significant step towards finally becoming European-wide law last week. The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice & Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) approved the final draft agreed by the European Council and Parliament as part of the trilogue negotiations. The text is available on the website of the European Parliament – under item 3 of the Committee Meeting agenda. The GDPR, which was first published in 2012, has gone through a number of iterations and extensive amendment on its journey to ratification. The final draft, which is expected to be ratified by the European Parliament and Council in Spring 2016, contains a number of compromise positions agreed by the EU institutions in an effort to get the GDPR across the line. Once ratified, there will be a two year period before the GDPR becomes directly applicable in all European Member States.Continue Reading A New Dawn -The draft General Data Protection Regulation takes a step closer to ratification
On 7 December 2015, the EU Council reached an informal agreement with the EU Parliament on the draft Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive.The draft Directive sets out cybersecurity obligations for operators of essential services in the healthcare, banking, energy and transport sectors, and also digital service providers (including e-commerce platforms, search engines, social networks, internet payment gateways, and cloud services). These operators will be required to take measures to manage cyber risks and report major security incidents.Continue Reading Agreement reached on first EU-wide cybersecurity legislation
On 6 July 2015, the Commission of Legislation Affaires of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued a draft of the People’s Republic of China Cyber Security Law (CSL) for public comment. The deadline for submitting is 5 August 2015.
Once adopted, this will be the first Chinese law that focuses exclusively on cyber security. The draft signals that the Chinese government is preparing to tighten its grip on domestic networks and data security, which is in line with the National Security Law.
In this article, I will provide some lawyers’ opinions, which I agree, discussing the impacts the draft may have in both business and social life in China.Continue Reading Influences and Features of China’s New Cyber Security Law Draft
