The legal status of CBD, a naturally occurring compound found in the cannabis plant, is murky. Certain Member States are more restrictive about it than others. The Court of Justice of the EU has very recently provided clarification in the context of a preliminary ruling (case C-663/18 of 19 November 2020). This case revolves around CBD’s ban in France, after it had been imported from the Czech Republic where it was lawfully produced ...
On January 4, 2022, 13 ministries and commissions, including the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”), jointly promulgated the Final Measures for Cybersecurity Review (the “Final Measures”). The Final Measures are binding and will become effective on February 15, 2022 ...
On January 4, 2022, 13 ministries and commissions, including the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”), jointly promulgated the Final Measures for Cybersecurity Review (the “Final Measures”). The Final Measures are binding and will become effective on February 15, 2022 ...
On 6 April 2022, Shoosmiths hosted the second in a series of webinars about the UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry. The webinar focussed on the current status of the inquiry and gave practical tips for potentially interested parties. Hosted by Hayley Saunders (Partner), the webinar included talks by Charles Arrand (Partner), Alex Friston (Associate) and Hannah Frost (Associate) ...
ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence program, has grabbed wide attention since its first introduction to the public. It has become the fastest-growing consumer application in history with more than 100 million monthly active users. People are amazed by its ability to respond intelligently to complex queries. ChatGPT is only one of the many AI tools that are being developed and used in various industries to improve efficiency and customer service ...
Plaintiffs’ counsel in pharmaceutical product liability cases continue to pursue depositions of company sales representatives and seek to elicit testimony supporting their common theme that pharmaceutical companies disregard the health and safety of their consumers in the dogged, single-minded pursuit of sales and profits ...
At any hour, your company is vulnerable to cybercriminals aiming to cripple your operations. The repercussions are vast, from productivity loss to compromising sensitive information, which erodes trust with customers and employees alike. The financial toll and reputational harm can be severe and lasting. Whether facing a widespread assault or a precise strike, these attacks are escalating in frequency, sophistication and financial impact ...
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia recently overturned the United States Patent & Trademark Office ("USPTO") interpretation of the patent term adjustment ("PTA") statute in Exelixis, Inc. v. Kappos. Similar to Wyeth v. Kappos, where a previous USPTO interpretation of the PTA statute was overturned, the Exelixis decision promises to add months and even years to the patent term of many patents ...
President Joe Biden announced Thursday, Sept. 9, that in the coming weeks, companies with 100 or more employees will be required to ensure their employees are vaccinated against COVID-19 or test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week.[1] Additionally, employers must provide employees time off to get vaccinated and to recover from any side effects. Press Secretary Jen Psaki previewed the forthcoming requirements in her briefing to the press on Thursday ...
In its decision of 8 August 2019 (Ref.: 29 W 940/19), the Munich Higher Regional Court commented for the first time on the German Act on the Protection of Business Secrets (GeschGehG). In court proceedings in which claims arising from the law which came into force at the end of April 2019 are asserted, urgency should not be presumed pursuant to Section 12 (2) German Law against unfair competition (UWG) (analogously) ...
The FDA recently issued final guidance regarding the size, shape, and other physical characteristics of generic-manufactured tablet and capsule dosage forms. The guidance noted that differences in physical characteristics of a dosage form could affect patient compliance and acceptability of medication regimens, or could lead to medication errors. The main reason for the FDA’s guidance appears to be that many patients can experience difficulty swallowing tablets and capsules ...
Impact on the activity of the pharmaceutical industry At the end of 2021, two laws were published to regulate the general framework for the prevention of corruption in the activity of companies: (i) Decree-Law 109-E/2021 of 9 December, which establishes the general rules for the prevention of corruption (“RGPC”) and (ii) Law 93/2021 of 20 December, which creates rules to protect whistleblowers (“RJPDI”) ...
The possibility of having, in the short term, a new statute on personal data protection, which updates the current regulation of Law No. 19,628 on the protection of private life, is rather unlikely. Bulletin 11144-07, which modifies said Law, remains at the initial legislative stage in the Chamber of Origin, therefore it is not feasible to foresee the approval of this bill in the medium term. On the other hand, the recent publication of Law No ...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a final rule, which will require hospitals to publicly disclose pricing information, effective January 1, 2021 ...
As soon as we began to shelter-in-place during the COVID-19 crisis, most of us also started to hold virtual meetings, both professional and personal, as a better, more satisfying way to connect. For this, we turned en masse to a handful of video conferencing platforms. However, while we can all agree that these services help us do our jobs and stay in touch with loved ones, these services raise many novel privacy and security concerns ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many employees working from home, and brought about a need for a more collaborate meeting culture in place of physical meeting and travelling. Online meetings using video conferencing systems empower businesses to stay connected with their clients, and interact and collaborate with their employees working remotely via the Internet ...
All indications are that the evolution of privacy laws and their impact will continue to evolve, perhaps even at a greater pace, in 2021. In celebrating Privacy Day, January 28, 2021, we would like to share four things businesses should be keeping their eyes on, and planning for, in 2021. 1. Significant changes to privacy legislation in Canada. Canadian federal and provincial governments have tabled and proposed sweeping changes to privacy laws in Canada ...
Privacy is Dead - But we never wanted it anyway, muses Adrian Tan. Over the past few weeks, our inboxes were bombarded by emails about privacy. Companies wrote to us, in a state of panic, because of the General Data Protection Regulation. That is a new European Union law that recently came into force. Among the many things that the GDPR does is to regulate the export of personal data outside the EU ...
