The Federal Circuit today overruled a federal district judge and held that Oracle’s API computer source code qualifies for copyright protection, potentially breathing new life into Oracle’s billion-dollar lawsuit against Google. Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc., Case No. 13-1021 (Fed. Cir. May 9, 2014) ...
Regional governments in Sweden are increasingly looking to leverage their purchasing power in order to secure discounts and rebates on the list prices of branded drugs. However, as noted by Elizabeth Eklund, Partner at leading commercial law firm Delphi, such agreements risk running foul of both Swedish and European Union (EU) law ...
On May 4, 2014 the Commission for Compensation and Royalties of the Israeli Patent Authority (the "Commission") rendered a decision relating to an employee's request to receive royalties for service inventions (the "Decision"). The Decision reduces the uncertainty that had surrounded the nature of an employee’s right to receive royalties for service inventions, and provides important guidelines for examining employee royalty waivers in agreements between employers and employees ...
The healthcare industry will have to wait for a court to answer the question of whether the United States Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) has authority to regulate data security practices of entities covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). On Monday, a federal district judge dismissed LabMD, Inc.’s case without reaching the merits, declining to disrupt the underlying administrative proceeding ...
LabMD, Inc. renewed its argument that the FTC lacks authority to regulate the data security practices of HIPAA covered entities by appealing the dismissal of its case for lack of jurisdiction (see our coverage here) to the Eleventh Circuit. LabMD also filed an emergency motion seeking expedited briefing and requesting an order enjoining the administrative proceedings until the appellate court rules on the merits of its argument ...
If you like having options in obtaining patent rights faster, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has been eager to please in the last decade. Expediting a patent application can be highly desirable since the average pendency from filing to issuance is about three years on average, and can be even longer in certain technology areas or if an appeal to the Patent Trial & Appeal Board is required ...
At the turn of the 21st century, various high-ranking Federal Trade Commission (FTC) officials stated that the Federal Trade Commission Act does not create requirements for what data-security measures companies must enact to ensure that private information is protected. The FTC Act’s catch-all prohibition against “unfair” or “deceptive” acts or practices, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), was not believed to cover the data-breach and cyber security domain ...
International infringers are notoriously difficult litigants to get in touch with; all too often the methods of service routinely available in the United States to serve defendants and bring them into court to halt infringement fail when exported overseas. The defendants in these cases often have little incentive to cooperate with either the court or whatever physical mechanism or service might be available in their jurisdiction ...
In Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc., issued on June 2, 2014, the Supreme Court established a new legal test to determine whether a patent claim satisfies the definiteness requirement of 35 U.S.C. Section 112 ...
After two years of heated debate fuelled by a diplomatic scandal with the US, Brazil has enacted a groundbreaking bill of internet rights which will protect consumers and give added certainty to businesses. The government initially sought to stem the controversy related to the US government spying on Brazilian internet by proposing rules which would require all companies with operations in Brazil to keep their data stored within the country by setting up local servers ...
On June 2nd, 2014, President Michelle Bachelet entered a bill into Congress which seeks to modify Law N° 19.496 on the Protection of the Rights of Consumers (“CPA”). The message of the bill recognizes that the tools provided by the current legislation to address violations to the rights of consumers are not sufficiently efficient or dissuasive: in several cases it is less expensive for providers to pay a fine for breach of the CPA, than to comply with such regulation ...
The technology to “print” three dimensional objects with a 3D printer is not new, but as prices for the technology fall it becomes more readily available for private individuals. The possibilities that open up when individuals get access to 3D printers trigger the imagination, but the accompanying issues are not without complications. The technology, and the new areas of use to which it is put, also raises many questions, particularly regarding intellectual property rights ...
Browsing the internet – even in a commercial context – does not require authorisation from the relevant copyright owners, says the EU’s top court. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed in its recent judgment in Public Relations Consultants Association Ltd (PRCA) v Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd (NLA) and Others (Case C-360/13) that browsing the internet without a copyright owner’s authorisation does not infringe the owner’s copyright ...
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Hatch-Waxman Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). Considered to be one of the most successful pieces of legislation ever enacted, the Hatch-Waxman Amendments created the modern generic drug industry, which is responsible for dramatically increasing the availabilty of low-cost generic drugs and saving the U.S. healthcare system billions of dollars ...
Although data protection laws globally are converging around a set of shared concerns, there is little prospect of their being harmonised. Ultimately, data protection and data privacy issues are rooted in local culture, and evolve in response to specific local challenges. In Europe, our data protection laws were a strong reaction against secret reporting by the state on its citizens that was widespread after the Second World War ...
On July 16, 2014, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that a “health care provider can bring the Medicare Secondary Payer Act’s (“MSP’s”) private cause of action against a non-group health plan that denies coverage for a reason besides Medicare eligibility.” In Michigan Spine & Brain Surgeons, PLLC v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the Court clarified a key holding in its prior decision in Bio-Medical Applications of Tennessee, Inc. v ...
The recent dynamic growth of virtual currencies presents the increasingly realistic chance of creation of an entirely new model of money and payment. Innovations allowing payments to be made at lightning speed, across state borders and outside of official payment systems, are appearing before our very eyes. Such payments are made without the involvement of banks or intermediaries, and often anonymously. This is a revolution not only for traditional payment systems, but also for the law ...
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 ...
The draft regulations for OTC derivatives have been released, which means that change is in the air. The government is stepping forward into unchartered territory and is set to regulate an area which has never been regulated before. Following our recent breaking news on the draft regulations, ENSafrica will, over the coming weeks and months, unpack the regulations for you, highlighting all the essentials. What follows is a sneak peak at affected areas and a snapshot of the bigger picture ...
In an unanimous decision dated September 4, 20141 , the Court of Appeal confirmed that the 45-day time limit under the Act Respecting Health Services and Social Services2 (ARHSSS) to allow the medical examiner and the local service quality and complaints commissioner to process a user complaint is not mandatory but rather serves to indicate that the Legislator intends the complaint to be diligently processed ...
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 ...
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 ...
