The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a “Dear CEO” letter on 28 February 2017 that requires urgent action from firms which operate a loan-based crowdfunding platform that facilitates loans to lending...more
After its announcement in May 2016, the multi-faceted UK Digital Economy Bill (‘Bill’) has progressed through Parliament and has recently been considered by MPs at the Public Bill Committee stage, during which various...more
FDA (Finally!) Issues New Regulations to Clarify Pharmaceutical Patent Litigation: How to Use Patent “Use Codes” -
October 6, 2016, the FDA issued a final rule implementing certain provisions of the Medicare...more
11/29/2016
/ Copyright ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Enforcement ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
New Regulations ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Popular ,
Trademarks ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
As part of the European Commission’s Digital Single Market initiative, the European Commission has published a draft Regulation aimed at preventing traders from discriminating against customers located in other EU Member...more
Europe’s highest court has ruled that software owners have potentially greater rights to prevent the resale of back-up copies of their works than may exist in relation to the original licensed programs.
The Court of...more
Social media is reportedly rife with influencers promoting or reviewing products or services without disclosing compensation or other consideration that they’ve received for such endorsements. The Competition and Markets...more
Copyright reform is a key part of the European Union’s package of measures designed to create a Digital Single Market (DSM) in the EU. The European Commission’s view is of nothing less than a modernisation of EU copyright...more
10/11/2016
/ Copyright ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Digital Single Market ,
Disability ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Member State ,
Popular ,
Publishers ,
Remuneration
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that, in certain circumstances, the act of posting a hyperlink to copyrighted works without the author’s consent may constitute copyright infringement. The crucial...more
Free Wi-Fi may come with more strings attached than anyone previously thought – at least in Europe. A recent copyright ruling of the highest European Union court may prove to be a double-edged sword for entities that offer...more
Stateside -
Even before the uncertainties following the Brexit referendum result, a move to the U.S. was an attractive proposition for high growth UK businesses. Common language, similar culture, access to capital and a...more
The process of Brexit will take time, and the implications for our clients’ business will unfold over time. Our MoFo Brexit Task Force is coordinating across all our offices and working with clients on your key concerns and...more
8/22/2016
/ CDPA ,
Community Designs ,
Copyright ,
Digital Single Market ,
EU ,
European Patent Office ,
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ,
European Union Trade Mark (EUTM) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Member State ,
Referendums ,
Trademarks ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unified Patent Court ,
Unitary Patent
Sometimes, what’s omitted is more important than what’s included. And never more so than in relation to EU regulation and compliance. Providers of peer-to-peer platforms may have feared that a desire by the EU to...more
As part of the Commission’s Digital Single Market initiative, the European Commission has published a draft Regulation aimed at preventing traders from discriminating against customers based on nationality or location. The...more
8/18/2016
/ Cross-Border ,
Customer Protection Rule ,
Digital Single Market ,
Draft Guidance ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Exclusions ,
Geo-Blocking ,
Goods or Services ,
Internet Retailers ,
Member State ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Proposed Regulation ,
UK Brexit
Online platforms have transformed the way we live and work and, as a result, platform operators have become some of the world’s leading brands. But the EU is concerned that Europe is not currently keeping pace with the U.S....more
Supreme Court Abolished Federal Circuit's Test for Willfulness -
On June 13, 2016, in Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc., 579 U.S. ___ (2016), the Supreme Court unanimously abrogated the Federal Circuit’s...more
8/13/2016
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Authorship ,
Books ,
Burden of Proof ,
Collaboration ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Employee Mobility ,
Enhanced Damages ,
EU ,
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ,
European Union Trade Mark (EUTM) ,
Fee-Shifting ,
Film Industry ,
Halo v Pulse ,
Harmonization Rules ,
Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons ,
Objective Unreasonableness Standard ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Preponderance of the Evidence ,
Prevailing Party ,
Remedies ,
SCOTUS ,
Screenplays ,
Seagate ,
Standard of Review ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unlawful Disclosure ,
Whistleblowers ,
Willful Infringement
Mixed Messages: Courts Grapple With Emoticons and Emoji -
Emoticon and emoji are ubiquitous in online and mobile communications; according to one study, 74 percent of Americans use emoticons, emoji and similar images...more
A harmonized trade secrets protection regime is coming to Europe and the US. Until now, there has been a fragmented approach to trade secrets across Europe, with some countries having specific trade secrets legislation and...more
With 1.65 billion users on Facebook, 332 million users on Twitter and 400 million on Instagram, it is unsurprising that many companies are seeking to increase brand awareness and customer engagement by running competitions...more
5/19/2016
/ Advertising ,
Advertising Standards Authority ,
CAP Code ,
Competition Authorities ,
Facebook ,
Instagram ,
Personal Brands ,
Prizes ,
Social Media ,
Twitter ,
UK
How To Protect Your Company’s Social Media Currency -
Today’s companies compete not only for dollars but also for likes, followers, views, tweets, comments and shares. “Social currency,” as some researchers call it, is...more
4/29/2016
/ Clickwrap Agreements ,
Data Security ,
Digital Single Market ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
Internet of Things ,
IP License ,
Online Reviews ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Social Media ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework
Move over Bitcoin. It’s the “blockchain”, the innovation that powers Bitcoin, that’s now grabbing all of the headlines. Supporters have been evangelising about the potential transformative power of distributed ledger...more
The European Commission has published two draft directives on the supply of digital content and the online sale of goods that aim to help harmonise consumer law across Europe. In proposing these new laws, the European Union...more
Welcome to the newest issue of Socially Aware, our Burton Award winning guide to the law and business of social media. In this edition, we offer tips for a successful—and legal—advertising campaign; we examine a New York...more
3/9/2016
/ Advertising ,
B2C ,
Big Data ,
Digital Goods ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Rule ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet Retailers ,
Marketing ,
Mobile Apps ,
Native Advertising ,
Social Media ,
Terms and Conditions ,
User-Generated Content
On 12 January 2016, the long-awaited revised Payment Services Directive (“PSD2”) came into force in Europe. This replaces the Payment Services Directive (“PSD”) that has been in place since 2007. The deadline for EU member...more
2/3/2016
/ Data Security ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
New Regulations ,
Popular ,
PSD2 ,
Technical Standards ,
Third-Party Service Provider
Three Steps To Help Ensure The Enforceability Of Your Website’s Terms Of Use -
Operators of social media platforms and other websites typically manage their risks by imposing terms of use or terms of service for the...more
1/29/2016
/ Barnes and Noble ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforceability ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Harassment ,
Instagram ,
Microsoft ,
Online Contracts ,
Reddit ,
Search Warrant ,
Section 5 ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes ,
Terms of Use ,
Twitter ,
UK ,
Vlog ,
Websites ,
Young Lawyers
The mobile app has become the new face of business. It’s no longer sufficient to have a company website. More and more companies want a mobile app that users can download to their smartphones and easily access. It’s not...more