On July 12th 2016, the European Commission adopted the substitute for the Safe Harbor, the data protection agreement previously signed between the Commission and the United States Department of Commerce in 2010. This new agreement is referred to as the “Privacy Shield”. As a reminder of the present state, the European Union Court of Justice …
Category: Article
LUMP SUM OR ACTUAL PREJUDICE COMPENSATION? BOTH, SAYS THE COURT
An important goal when acting against infringements of rights is to receive compensation for your loss. But what kind of compensation does the law offer you? Directive 2004/48 of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights created two sets of compensation rules in article 13(1): either the national authorities choose a compensation …
Open, Alibaba… But not to Counterfeiting
There has already been controversy surrounding the operations of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holdings. Taobao, a platform under the Alibaba portfolio, has been accused of allowing vast amounts of counterfeit goods to be knowingly sold by users of the website. These allegations did not rise to a threatening level until the Chinese Government itself …
The New Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Arbitration Rules in 2016: A Comparative view
Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC)’s new Arbitration Rules from 1 August 2016 onwards Singapore, just like the Netherlands, is one of the most attractive arbitration forums in the world. SIAC continuously improves the arbitration rules to provide parties with the most efficient ways to solve disputes. There are several changes to the Singapore International Arbitration …
GOODBYE OLD FRIEND…
Brexit and the consequences for intellectual property rights On June 24th, 2016, the United Kingdom referendum result came: Brexit over Remain. Though the economic and political effects of this exit of the European Union are yet to be determined, we are currently able to discern some of the most foreseeable consequences for intellectual property rights.
Doing Business in the Digital Market: Balance between Data Protection and Competition Law
Companies within the internal market can build their market power by abstracting value from its client’s personal information. When entering into an unfamiliar market, a company should always bear in mind the balance between the levels of protection that it should provide to its consumers and the degree of competitiveness that it holds from controlling …
China’s One Belt One Road Initiative on tax and customs
In September and October 2013, the Chinese President Xi Jinping had brought up two strategic initiatives which are jointly known as the “One Belt One Road” Initiative[1] (OBOR), respectively the New Silk Road Economic Road (SREB) and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR). These two projects are considered a re-establishment of the historical trade …
When data protection mingles with competition law and the right to data portability
According to Margrethe Verstager, European Commissioner for Competition, “we as consumers have a new currency that we can use […] – our data”[1] which most of the time consumers do not realize they posses and this is what the Digital Single Market Strategy addresses. The Digital Single Market Strategy aims at creating easy access and …
Chinese investments fund based in London will trigger EU AIFM Directive
A 500 million pounds investment into a London-based fund had been announced by the Chinese company Cocoon Networks at a Beijing-London Tech Venture Forum held on the 19th of January 2016. Two big private equity companies were behind this, namely China Equity Group and Hanxin Capital. This fund is to be expected in place in …
Labor law and Tax optimization, the war has only just begun!
This is legal news that Wolters Kluwer would have wished not to have to publish. Indeed, their tax optimisation techniques just suffered a severe loss against the French labor rights. In 2007, the Dutch media and editing group Wolters Kluwer decided to merge several companies. This project was called the “COSMOS project”. As part of …