Before the close of the legislative session, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has shown tremendous support for free speech and the rights of whistleblowers by signing Senate Bill 627 codifying a defense for the news media’s accurate reporting on third-party allegations. This defense had been common law in Texas for twenty-five years but was called into question in a recent Texas Supreme Court ruling ...
At first glance, "net neutrality" may seem a natural principle for the internet environment. This expression, however, gives rise to sometimes divergent interests and some concerns. As a general concept, net neutrality means an open Internet, through which consumers would be able to make their own choices about the content they wish to access and share, as well as the services and applications they want to use ...
When copyright has been infringed online, what court is competent to hear and decide the case? The EU top court’s recent ruling provides clarity and states that online infringement cases can be heard where the infringing content is accessible. The content right holders will be able to take legal action against the infringer in their home countries, but only regarding damage that occurred there ...
This week, I caught up with patent attorneys Jonathan D’Silva and Bryan Walker of MacDonald Illig Jones & Britton, LLP to hear their perspectives on some key strategic intellectual property (IP) legal issues ...
Under Regulation No. 122/M-IND/PER/12/2014 on Delegation of Authority to Grant Industrial Business Licenses to the Head of the Capital Investment Coordinating Board, the MOT has delegated its authority to issue certain licenses to BKPM. Business licenses delegated consist: 1. Industrial Business License and/or Expansion Licenses as follows: a. alcoholic beverages industry; b. valuable paper industry; c. weapons and ammunition industry; d ...
The phrase ‘Je suis Charlie’ became one of the most popular twitter hashtags in history following the attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine. Nearly 6,500 tweets were sent per minute containing the phrase first coined by artist Joachim Roncin and which has come to symbolise freedom of speech and freedom of the press. However, there have also been several attempts to register the phrase as a trademark ...
The Head of the National Agency for Food and Drug Control (BPOM) has issued Regulation No. 11 of 2014 on The Procedure for the Certification of Good Manufacturing Practices, ensuring compliance with the applicable standards for processed food. Regulation 11 has been in force since 5 August 2014 ...
The Minister of Communications and Informatics issued Regulation No. 19 of 2014 on Controlling Internet Websites Containing Negative Content (Regulation 19). Regulation 19 has been in force since 17 July 2014. This regulation aims to implement “the safe and healthy use of the internet” by all social groups by blocking access to websites that contain pornographic or unlawful material (negative content) ...
As noted in our previous client update, judicial rulings on the patent-eligibility of software and business method patents under section 101 of the U.S. Patent Act have run heavily against patent owners since Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. ___, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014). (See 11/17/2014 Client Update). On Friday December 5, 2014, however, the U.S ...
Just before Americans sat down to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends, with many of them probably choosing to overlook the total calorie count of those meals, the FDA released the long awaited rule on nutritional labeling applicable to chain restaurants and other venues serving restaurant type food (79 FR 71156). The FDA’s final menu labeling rule implements certain amendments to the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act ("FD&C Act") that were part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 ...
Every day seems to bring word of a new data breach, and given the stakes of these breaches, it would be easy to assume that dealing with the damage they cause would be a top government priority. Unfortunately, a myriad of conflicting state laws, as well as the lack of one over-arching federal law, creates legal and compliance nightmares for companies that these breaches affect. For example, in late February and early March 2014, hackers successfully targeted eBay’s corporate network ...
Nowadays, we live in an information age (also known as the computer age, digital age or new media age) and the advancement of technologies has facilitated information flow and communication through social media. On one hand, people have easy and quick access to others’ information, enabling interaction with one another. However, the free flow of information and wide participation in social media networks also exposes a person to various risks or dangers ...
Judicial rulings on the patent-eligibility of software and business method patents under section 101 of the U.S. Patent Act have run heavily against patent owners since the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 19, 2014 ruling in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. ___, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014). (See Client Update here ...
The Richemont Group, owner of a number of luxury brands including Cartier, Montblanc and IWC, has secured a landmark website blocking order against the five main retail internet service providers (ISPs) in the UK (SKY, BT, EE, Talk Talk, and Virgin). Building upon the website blocking orders available to copyright holders, Richemont applied to the Court for orders requiring the ISPs to prevent subscribers' access to six websites (including www.cartierloveonline.com, and www.ukmontblancoutlet.co ...
Finding that the taking of photography is entitled to the same First Amendment protection as photographs themselves, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals struck down the state's "improper photography or visual recording" statute, a statute that made it a crime to photograph or record someone in a place other than a bathroom or private dressing room without their consent and "with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person." Ex Parte Thompson (Tex. Ct. Crim. App. Sept. 17 ...
Aside from a passing reference to data protection in the Electronic Transactions Ordinance (see below), TCI has no data protection statute. However, a number of other areas of local law are applicable or, in the context of the advice sought, ought to be considered in relation to data protection, confidentiality and privacy matters. In that respect:- a. Data protection, privacy and confidentiality at common law TCI is a British Overseas Territory and is a common law jurisdiction ...
On August 29, 2014, Normative Resolution N. 112 was published, amending Article 4 of Normative Resolution N. 98 of November 14, 2012. Normative Resolution 112/2014 provides that the temporary visa item V can be granted to foreign nationals who will enter Brazil to work exclusively in the preparation, organization, planning and execution of the 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games and who do not have a Brazilian sponsoring company or any employment relationship with a Brazilian company ...
Last month a USA court found that a hit song performed and co-written by Shakira was in fact copied from an earlier work. So what happened? Shakira had previously collaborated with Dominican rapper El Cata on the song 'Loca'. The song, which sold over 5,000,000 copies worldwide, also featured on her album 'The Sun Comes Out' ...
In Belgium, although a sportsman is deemed to accept the normal risks linked to the exercise of his sport, he can claim damages for injuries inflicted on him by another player, to the extent that the perpetrator failed to meet the standard of general due diligence.1 The action of the player causing the injury is measured against the behaviour that would have been displayed by another reasonable sportsman placed under the same conditions ...
The rise of social media in recent years has had a significant impact on people's private lives and an increasing number of companies are now using social media for business purposes. However, the opportunities and advantages offered by social media platforms also represent its greatest challenges. Companies often forget that such services do not exist in a legal vacuum – the normal legal framework is still applicable ...
The Energy Law is to permit industrial users to obtain certificates of origin and present them for redemption for only a portion of the electricity they purchase. But the future of this support mechanism has been called into question. The rule introduced by the 26 July 2013 act amending Poland’s Energy Law limits the obligation imposed on industrial users to support the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) and high-efficiency cogeneration (CHP) ...
Who knows why Luis Suarez bit Giorgio Chiellini at the FIFA World Cup 2014. Perhaps it’s a compliment to great Italian defending? Or something to do with the increasing demands of the modern game? Whatever the answer may be, none of us truly believe that this sort of thing is acceptable. But precisely what are the rules that regulate this sort of conduct? Most of us were told not to bite when we were very young - so that we know ...
Many African brand owners will be familiar with the remedies that exist in cases of so-called ‘cybersquatting’. The brand owner who feels aggrieved by the fact that its trade mark has been registered as a domain name by a third party can lodge a complaint and request that the registration be cancelled or transferred to it. In the case of a .co.za registration, the complaint will be handled in accordance with the Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations ...
