To protect and stimulate creators to increase innovation and encourage entrepreneurship, Norwegian authorities are changing the law. In 2018 we received several proposals towards strengthening the rights of those who create new ideas or build their business on intellectual property. Looking back at 2018, we see a year in which the Norwegian intellectual property (IP) legislation has been in movement. Technology is developing fast, and so must the law protecting technology ...
Software is becoming the main part of an increasingly amount of products set on the market; a trend which will become more and more evident in the years to come. This fact challenges the legal landscape and interpretation of product liability laws, and contract makers must pay attention to potential new risks imposed on the parties. If a product causes damages to a third party, complex questions may arise with respect to liability and the chain of causation ...
PSD2 came into effect in the European Union on January 13, 2018. PSD2 is important as it aims to further harmonise the EU payments market and break the banks' de facto monopoly on the provision of payment services and the use of their customer data. Below is a review of developments to date as they relate to transposing PSD2 into Norwegian law, including an update on the most recent developments ...
The online retail sector has seen a considerable increase in intervention by the competition authorities both on a national level and in Brussels. Most recently, in December 2018, the European Commission fined the clothing company Guess € 39.8 million for applying online sales and advertising restrictions ...
On December 7, 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a Proposed Rule that clarifies procedures and criteria for the de novo medical device clearance pathway. In a statement accompanying the Proposed Rule, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb stated FDA believes the Proposed Rule will help facilitate classification of innovative low- to moderate-risk novel medical devices by providing more structure, clarity, and transparency to the de novo pathway ...
Executives and in-house counsel should be aware that traveling with sensitive data can lead to its seizure—with potentially severe consequences worldwide. Recently, Parliament in the United Kingdom seized from a traveling executive a USB drive containing data that had been produced in a United States lawsuit between Six4Three, a software company, and Facebook. Put simply, that data was in the wrong place at the wrong time ...
Regulation (EU) 2018/302 of February 28, 2018, on addressing geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination based on customers' nationality, place of residence or place of establishment within the internal market (the "Regulation") came into force, December 3, 2018. The Regulation seeks to increase access for customers in the EU and EEA to goods and services by preventing unjustified geo-discrimination due to the customer's nationality, place of residence or establishment ...
Since the GDPR has been in force, almost every company has, among other things, dealt with issues of the permissibility of direct marketing and other marketing activities under data protection law. At their data protection conference on Nov. 07-08, 2018, the German data protection supervisory authorities issued a new "orientation guide" on this topic (as of November 2018) ...
On Nov. 19, 2018, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking[1] requesting public comment on criteria for identifying emerging technologies essential to U.S. national security that would be subject to increased export controls ...
In less than a decade, China has become the largest e-commerce market in the world, accounting for over 40% of global e-commerce according to a recent report by McKinsey. The breath-taking speed of development has left law makers scrambling to regulate the booming e-commerce industry ...
Today the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that will end HRSA’s delays in implementing a January 5, 2017 final rule concerning 340B drug price calculations and civil monetary penalties (CMPs) against manufacturers who knowingly and intentionally overcharge 340B covered entities for 340B drugs (the Final Rule) ...
With the development of information and communication technologies, teleworking is a good solution to solve many problems encountered by employees and employers, as well as to solve more global issues: pollution, global warming, stress, traffic jam, car crashes, balance between private and working life, workspace, parking, etc ...
Although blockchain and smart contracts are young, still-evolving and need to be tested and improved, they are already promising a revolution in different areas of the economy, and this is not unfounded; both could bring huge improvements across many areas. Imagine being able to get a mortgage, buy an apartment and get the relevant records immediately registered under your name with no need to make legal reviews of these transactions in just one click ...
The Abu Dhabi Global Market (the ADGM) recently announced the launch of a commercial license specifically catered towards tech start-ups that allows entrepreneurs to obtain an operational license in the ADGM and access to a Professional Services Support Program aimed at allowing entrepreneurs entry to a community of businesses, financial services and professional advisors ...
Following a short period of public consultation, the Telecommunications and Other Amendments (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018 (Cth) (Bill) has been introduced into Parliament. Despite the extensive public concerns raised with the Exposure Draft version, only a small number of amendments have been made to the Bill. Following extensive submissions and much debate, the 'decryption Bill' has now been introduced into Parliament ...
In the framework of a globalized world and social networks that are established as a measure of possible interest of economic, social and political groups, data protection regulations become more relevant ...
Lawyers are often criticised for using overly complex legal and technical wording in contracts. The purpose of a contract is, amongst other things, to clearly set out the rights and obligations of the contracting parties, and to limit uncertainty during the particular project. To this end, it is important to use plain English in contract drafting and as a general rule, to use short sentences, defined terms and a clear and logical structure ...
Months into the United States’ trade dispute with China, and there is no end in sight to the dispute. There are three significant deadlines for U.S. importers to consider involving the tariffs the U.S ...
Earlier this year, in Kim v. Toyota Motor Corp., the California Supreme Court delivered a significant win to product manufacturers concerning the admissibility of industry custom and practice evidence in a strict product liability design defect action. Haynes and Boone, LLP Partner M.C ...
As a business owner in the Pacific Northwest, you likely have heard of the changes to California’s regulations regarding warning labels on consumer products, Proposition 65, which takes effect August 30, 2018. Your business may be affected by the changes if your business conducts any consumer product-related business in California ...
Two significant events this week raised eyebrows in the lucrative world of live sports broadcasting. Firstly, Facebook agreed an exclusive deal to show La Liga to users in Asian territories including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It will live stream all 380 matches this season for free to its 348 million users in the region. The move fits with Facebook's ambition to grow use of its social networking platform outside markets that have reached saturation ...
The Industrial Court is a creature of statute. In determining a particular dispute, the Industrial Court must act in accordance with the purposes and express provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 (“Act”). The Court must also act according to “equity, good conscience and the substantial merits of the case without regard to technicalities and legal form” [1] ...
In North Midland Building Ltd v Cyden Homes Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that an express contractual term allowing an employer to levy liquidated damages for periods of concurrent delay took precedence over a common law principle known as the prevention principle. Background Cyden Homes Limited (CH) employed a contractor, North Midland Building Limited (NMB), to design and build a large house in the Midlands, under a JCT Design and Build construction contract ...
The drastic changes in the media landscape made over the past years continue to rock the traditional TV sector. Family TV is being replaced rapidly by content online, on demand and on different mobile devices. The global internet video share by consumers is expected to increase from 64% in 2014 to 80% by 2019 (according to Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2016–2021) ...
