With a law enacted on 17 December 2012, the Finnish parliament moved forward on the longstanding plan to house intellectual property rights disputes in the Market Court. This legislative reform has a significant impact for all companies operating in Finland. The Market Court will start to hear these disputes in the autumn of 2013 ...
Grid Code amended In December of last year, the Serbian Transmission System Operator amended the Grid Code. These amendments did not substantially change the code, but did introduce changes in: - technical conditions for connecting to the grid, including specific conditions for connecting generating units, and - access to the grid. The amendments are published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia no. 02/12 ...
On 17 December 2012 Treasury released a Consultation Paper on minimum governance standards for entities registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), as well as draft Regulations and an Explanatory Memorandum on financial reporting obligations and annual information statements for such entities ...
On Oct. 22, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by granting a right of way for the Ruby Pipeline project. Center for Biological Diversity v. Bureau of Land Management, No. 10-72356 (9th Cir. Oct. 22, 2012) ...
As we embark upon the season of goodwill, those wishing to embrace the Christmas cheer may wish to consider settlement of an ongoing commercial dispute bringing peace and goodwill to all - besides saving their business time and money in the process.Should you settle? Parties settle disputes for a variety of reasons ...
On November 22nd a law referred as Law against Corruption was published on the official Gazette (Decree number 31-2012 of Guatemalan Congress), which entered into force on November 30th, 2012. This law mainly incorporates amendments to the Criminal Codes, Law Against Organized Crime and Property Forfeiture Law ...
The America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA) authorizes the U.S. Patent Office to create a new third tier of fees for patent prosecution and maintenance — "Micro Entity Status" — where fees may be reduced by up to 75 percent. Micro entities are eligible to pay fees 50 percent lower than those paid by small entities and 75 percent lower than those paid by large entities ...
On October 31, 2012, the California Court of Appeal affirmed a finding that two chemicals classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as possibly carcinogenic pursuant to the Labor Code do not meet the standard for inclusion on the Proposition 65 list ...
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) recently published a questionnaire to gather feedback on how privacy seals might be used to improve data protection compliance and customer privacy awareness. The questionnaire is available online until November 30, 2012 ...
A Polish company enters into a contract with a German company. Which country’s law will govern the contract? Monika Hartung: To start with, under Art. 3 of the Rome I Regulation (Regulation 593/2008 of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations), the parties themselves may select the law governing the contract. The previous version of Poland’s Private International Law required the existence of a link, e.g ...
On November 22, 2012, the UK Ministry of Justice released a written ministerial statement (“Statement”) announcing the publication of its Government Impact Assessment on the European Commission’s legislative reform package on the EU data protection framework. The European Commission has claimed that a regulation implementing a single set of data protection rules across the European Union would save businesses around €2.3 billion a year ...
On November 28, 2012, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) issued monetary penalties totaling £440,000 to two owners of a marketing company that sent millions of unlawful spam SMS text messages over a period of three years.Following an 18 month investigation, Christopher Niebal and Gary McNeish, the owners of Tetrus Telecoms (“Tetrus”), have been ordered to pay £300,000 and £140,000, respectively ...
On October 15, 2012, Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC filed suit in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (“IPAA”) and six other state-level oil and gas associations (PA, WV, OH, KY, IL, IN), (referred to herein as “the Associations”) challenging the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) promulgated for the oil and natural gas industry on August 16, 2012 ...
In late October 2012, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris began sending letters to approximately 100 mobile app operators, informing them that they are not in compliance with the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”) ...
On November 13-15, 2012, delegates at the IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress in Brussels were given insight into how discussions with key policymakers are progressing. As European Parliament rapporteur and Member of the European Parliament Jan Philipp Albrecht aims to finalize the reform of the EU Data Protection Directive by the end of the current European Parliament’s mandate in 2014, this ambitious goal faces numerous hurdles ...
On November 20, 2012, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) published “Anonymisation: Managing Data Protection Risk Code of Practice” (the “Code”). The purpose of the Code is to provide organizations with a framework for assessing the risks of anonymization ...
Reporting from Washington, D.C., Hunton & Williams partner Frederick Eames writes: Elections have consequences. What are the consequences of the 2012 election on U.S. federal privacy, data security and breach notice legislation? We outline some key developments in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate and explain how these developments might affect legislative priorities and prospects for the 113th Congress beginning in 2013.U.S. House of RepresentativesThree committees in the U ...
On November 7, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had settled charges against payday lending and check cashing companies alleged to have improperly disposed of consumers’ personal information. In its complaint, the FTC maintained that PLS Financial Services, Inc ...
On October 15, 2012, IOGA-WV, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (“IPAA”) and five other state-level oil and gas associations filed suit in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) promulgated for the oil and natural gas industry on August 16, 2012 ...
FAQ on the Belgian Pre-Contractual Information in the Framework of Commercial Co-operation Agreements Act of 19 December 2005.Belgium has a specific legal regime protecting the economically weaker party in certain commercial partnership agreements (i.e. the Pre-Contractual Information in the Framework of Commercial Co-operation Agreements Act of 19 December 2005 – “the Act”) ...
As Denmark is situated between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, the prevailing weather conditions suggest that wind power should constitute a major part of the country's total power production. While onshore wind turbines have dominated the Danish landscape for decades, offshore wind turbine parks have been erected in Danish waters in recent years ...
On October 26, 2012, three resolutions were adopted by the closed session of the 34th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners and have been published on the conference website. Below we provide an overview of these resolutions ...
The Federal Attorney-General has released a Discussion Paper seeking comment on whether to introduce laws to make notification of data breaches by government agencies and large private sector entities mandatory in Australia. The Government is calling for submissions by 23 November 2012, asking what the triggers should be and what penalties should apply for failure to comply ...
On Aug. 31, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its decision in In re Charter Communications Inc., (2d Cir. Aug. 31, 2012), expressly adopting an abuse of discretion standard for reviewing equitable mootness determinations ...
B.C. Environment Minister Terry Lake and Energy, Mines and Natural Gas Minister Rich Coleman refused to issue an Environmental Assessment Certificate (“EAC”) to Pacific Booker Minerals Inc. for its proposed Morrison Copper/Gold Mine project near Smithers, at the headwaters of the Skeena River ...
