The German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) sees the decision as a success: On November 11, 2020, the District Court of Bonn reduced the fine imposed on 1&1 Telekom GmbH for a data protection breach from an original EUR 9.55 million to EUR 990,000.00, thereby fundamentally calling into question the fine practices of the German supervisory authorities ...
This newsletter features a look into notable recent case law and other developments in Finnish competition law and other regulatory issues. Finnish Market Court gives its first detailed ruling on joint bidding In November 2023 the Finnish Market Court gave its judgment concerning a case on joint bidding in the field of public transport. This was the first time a Finnish court has in detail examined the lawfulness of joint bidding ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends, In November 2020, Korean Air Lines Co Ltd had entered into a share subscription agreement with Asiana Airlines Inc which had been in a situation of financial distress. The merger of the two airlines required regulatory approval from competition and antitrust agencies of other jurisdictions, which included but were not limited to, Korea, UK, US, EU, Malaysia and Singapore ...
The Autonomous Bus and Minibus Pilot Project 1 (the “Pilot Project”) came into effect in Quebec recently. The project provides guidelines for the regulated driving of the first autonomous vehicles on Quebec’s roads ...
The automotive industry is undergoing a rapid transformation, and the changes over the next 12 months are likely to be significant. As the industry moves towards a more sustainable and “green” future, the way we use and interact with cars is likely to change dramatically alongside. This is partly driven by the continued rise of electric vehicles (EV), with EV’s securing a 15.1 per cent share of the UK's new car market as of December 2022 ...
In case you missed it, there was an interesting piece in the January/February issue of Transaction Trends, the Electronic Transactions Association’s official publication. I highly recommend it, as it was a good look ahead. The feature, “Putting the ‘L’ in M-Commerce” was an interview with several prominent industry executives about loyalty cards and programs. Today, however, loyalty card programs are fragmented, to put it politely ...
Captains of private and commercial yachts (and owners) have civil and criminal law duties most of which are concerned with the safe operation of the vessel. As the captain is regarded in law as being the owner’s agent, he is the person unfortunately on the spot. It is the captain who becomes personally liable in the first instance for any fine imposed on the vessel. Owners or charterers have no legal obligation to compensate him even though the offence may have occurred due to their fault ...
The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the food industry, just as it has many others. The good news is that food-to-person transmission of the disease does not seem to be a risk. The challenge remains keeping workers safe from airborne and surface transmission. However, the FDA and the USDA have provided guidance and recommendations to food producers to deal with COVID-19, links to which have been provided below. The guidance focuses on stopping the person-to-person spread of the disease ...
Restaurateurs and their employees don’t need anything else to worry about these days. It is challenging enough to operate a restaurant in this time of quarantines, curbside and delivery-only options, and social distancing added to the attendant drops in revenue and worries about making sure employees are cared for. Maybe the absolute last thing any restaurant wants to focus on are food safety regulations such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) ...
The establishment by the Scottish Government of a food security task force is a necessary and timely response to the war in Ukraine. In addition to the harrowing humanitarian crisis, the conflict has prompted significant concern among food producers. The UK food sector and consumers are currently facing a perfect storm just as we begin to emerge from the pandemic ...
The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic is upending regular commercial activity across the United States and around the world, and that disruption is expected to escalate. Among the issues confronting our clients, the effect of public health orders and other measures to address COVID-19 is threatening, impacting, and in some cases, outright prohibiting the performance of material contractual obligations ...
Classic Maritime Inc. v Limbungan SDN BHD & Anor [2018] EWHC 2389 (Comm) This case arose out of a dispute relating to the correct interpretation of an “exceptions clause” which excused non-performance of a contract in circumstances that are usually described asforce majeure ...
The war between new DVD technologies, Blu-ray and HD DVD are reminiscent of the battle between the VHS and Betamax videocassette formats. Who will be the winner in this war is yet to be seen as these formats are now becoming available in retail outlets. Supported by Sony, Blu-ray is the next generation optical disc which was developed to store large amounts of data and to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high definition (HD) video ...
The Court of Appeal of Quebec has issued an important judgment pertaining to a franchisor’s implicit obligations towards its franchisees. In June 2012, the Superior Court of Quebec ordered Dunkin’ Donuts Brands Canada Ltd. (“Dunkin’ Donuts”) to pay an amount of $16.4M (plus interests and costs) to 21 of its franchisees in Quebec the sum of $16 ...
It is evident that the current lockdown is having an unprecedented slowdown in the movement of persons between EU Member States. This is not due to a restriction which was imposed by the EU itself but because of the restrictions which the Member States themselves imposed through their respective Public Health officials. It is noticeable that the legal restrictions on immigration were driven by the Member States' individual rules rather than by a general guideline from the EU ...
The designation of eight new Freeports within England made headlines in the Budget and now the winning bidders have to put into effect their successful proposals. What will this mean in practice for those areas affected and what are the likely issues that Freeport authorities will face? We have pulled together some questions we are asked frequently on Freeports, together with the responses we have been providing to our clients ...
The rise of e-commerce and the struggle many brick-and-mortar retail stores face is nothing new. Customers are increasingly choosing to shop for clothes, furniture and even groceries from the convenience of their own homes. More recently, however, this shift in the way consumers shop has given rise to new types of retail stores – small showrooms and “pop-up shops ...
Over the last few years, news that some of the nation's most iconic retail stores have closed has become more frequent. Yesterday, Poundworld entered administration. Last week, House of Fraser announced it would be closing 31 stores, many of which are in some the UK's largest cities. It is no secret that many retailers have been adversely affected by the shopping habits of consumers, ever since the advent of a new pastime - buying online ...
One of the most common questions I receive from clients is around the termination of leases, with confusion reigning around the terminology and procedures used in Scotland. It is not surprising that when given a remit to consider the law of commercial leases, the Scottish Law Commission (SLC) first turned its attention to the law relating to the termination of leases at expiry. In October 2022, following consultations, the SLC published its Report on Aspects of Leases: Termination ...
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is seeking views on potential approaches to precautionary allergen labelling for prepacked and non-prepacked foods. This consultation follows new rules that came into force in relation to allergen labelling on prepacked for direct sale foods last year (see our article about Natasha’s Law here) and will consider how precautionary allergen labelling can be communicated more clearly and consistently to consumers ...
Recently, Dinsmore attorneys attended the Federal Trade Commission’s eighth annual PrivacyCon: a conference for regulators, researchers, industry representatives, consumer advocates and other stakeholders to gather and discuss trends in consumer privacy and data security. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the federal independent agency charged with regulating and enforcing anticompetitive, deceptive and unfair business practices ...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is devoting significant resources to combat deceptive COVID-19 advertising in a range of industries as consumer complaints to the FTC pick up steam. Companies are shifting marketing spend to cover COVID-19 messaging and should be mindful of the FTC’s increased scrutiny. Through April 9, 2020, the FTC has received 15,006 consumer complaints relating to COVID-19 advertising and business activities ...
