The Circuit Court has dismissed Mr Shatter’s appeal against the Data Protection Commissioner’s (the DPC) decision that he breached the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003 (the DPAs), by disclosing Mr Wallace’s personal information on RTE’s Prime Time. 

The Court found that Mr Shatter, in his personal capacity, did not have standing to bring the appeal, and furthermore that it had not been shown that the DPC’s decision was vitiated by any serious or significant error or series of errors.Continue Reading Circuit Court dismisses Shatter’s appeal against Data Protection Commissioner

In December 2014 the European Commission published its 5th Report on the monitoring of patent settlement agreements in the EEA in respect of the period January to December 2013. The focus of the report was to gather some insight into the types of agreements being entered into between originator and generic companies and to identify the types of agreements that were resulting in a delay to generic entry to the market. While these types of agreements can potentially give rise to competition law issues the Report does clarify that there is no presumption of any legislative breach and that each case would require analysis of the merits and specific circumstances.Continue Reading Commission Report on the Monitoring of Patent Settlement Agreements

The Private Security Authority (PSA) has published a public consultation document which proposes regulating the Private Investigator Sector. The consultation follows the recent prosecutions of private investigators by the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), for illegally obtaining people’s personal information (see my previous blog here).Continue Reading Consultation launched on regulation of private investigators

In the wake of its recent win against "screenscraper" website eDreams, Ryanair has claimed another victory following a referral from the Dutch Supreme Court to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) on the Database Directive (96/9/EC).

In brief, the CJEU held that owners of publically available databases, which do not fall under the protection of the Database Directive, are free to restrict the use of the data through contractual terms on their website. The decision in Case C – 30/14 Ryanair v PR Aviation BV marks the CJEU’s first copyright judgment of the year.Continue Reading Ryanair in another victory against the screenscrapers

In a scene reminiscent of the often overlooked 1983 gem ‘War Games’ (in which Matthew Broderick stars as a student who hacks into a military supercomputer and unwittingly ignites global nuclear warfare), the US and UK governments have announced that they intend to inflict cyber-attacks against each other in an attempt to beef up their respective defences to the reality of cyber terrorism.Continue Reading Is it a game or is it real?

The Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 has been enacted. It introduces a small number of amendments to Patents and Trade Marks legislation. 

It expands the research exemption in our patents legislation to benefit companies engaged in the pharmaceutical sector in Ireland. This will be done by providing legal certainty on the aspect of immunity from patent infringement where clinical tests and trials are carried out in order to develop new or generic versions of medical and veterinary products, while the derivative products continue to enjoy legitimate patent protection. The new provisions will apply to tests and trials carried out in Ireland for the purposes of getting regulatory approval of the new products anywhere in the world.Continue Reading Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 enacted

In recent years there has been an explosion of mobile applications (apps), with 1,600 new apps reportedly being added to app stores daily. Along with the increasing popularity of apps, there has been an increase in privacy concerns amongst Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) and consumers.Continue Reading Global DPAs urge app marketplaces to make links to privacy policies mandatory

New Balance has kicked off a trademark action against Nike-owned Converse concerning its PF Flyers brand and the Converse trademark on Chuck Taylors. New Balance is requesting that the Federal Court in NY cancel the Converse trademark registration, which was obtained in 2013, so that they may continue selling their version of the shoe. New Balance has set out in court filed papers that the products are different enough and that consumers are unlikely to confuse the two. 

Last October saw Converse file a trademark action against 31 companies, notably not including New Balance, who they accused of infringing their trademark by producing knock-offs of their famous Chuck Taylor designed shoe. Should Converse be successful in this action New Balance has indicated their concern as to how such a ruling would be enforced.Continue Reading New Balance trademark action against Converse

There has been much debate during 2014 about the effectiveness of the US Safe Harbour regime. Many EU commentators have queried its effectiveness, pointing in particular to the lack of enforcement over the years by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the body which effectively is charged with dealing with complaints that companies are not in compliance with their public representations of adherence to the Safe Harbour principles.
Continue Reading SnapChat Signs Up to 20 Years of Data Protection Audits

On 11 December 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that domestic use of CCTV surveillance should be strictly limited, and that the exemption in article 3(2) of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC for "personal or household activity" does not permit the use of domestic CCTV that also records any public space.Continue Reading CJEU restricts use of CCTV surveillance for domestic purposes