There were numerous and wide ranging developments in intellectual property law in 2022, This includes the evolution and commercialisation of the Metaverse and NFT’s attracting significant media attention as a breakthrough development. In this article, we focus on three key case law developments: The decision by the EUIPO Fifth Board of Appeal to permit the well-known vodka brand, Absolut, to successfully register its 3D vodka bottle shape as a trade mark The decision by the EUIPO to refuse to...

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On December 2, 2022, the Department of Commerce (“DOC”) issued affirmative preliminary determinations in antidumping duty (“ADD”) and countervailing duty (“CVD”) circumvention inquiries on solar cells and modules imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam (“C/M/T/V”). These decisions cover cells and modules made in C/M/T/V incorporating Chinese-made wafers and other Chinese-made “major components” (“Circumventing Products”).  In the past several years, well over 50% of solar cell/module imports into the United States have consisted of Circumventing Products. This decision, however, does...

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently published a discussion paper (here) summarizing its preliminary findings on the potential competition impact of Big Tech entry into retail financial services. The FCA is now inviting stakeholder comments on a range of questions focusing on the areas of payments, deposit taking, consumer credit, and insurance. The discussion paper is open to feedback—particularly from industry players such as banks, payments firms, and fintechs—until January 15, 2023. This development signals the increasing regulatory scrutiny that...

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The UK Government is supporting the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill to significantly expand employers’ liability for harassment in the workplace. If it becomes law, the bill would mean employers could be liable for harassment of employees by third parties, such as customers and clients. Secondly, it would place a positive duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment of employees. Liability for harassment of employee by third parties If enacted as it is currently drafted, an employee who is...

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Key takeaways APAC countries continue to rank highly as locations of production, particularly due to the abundant supply of low cost of labour: of the top 12 locations, half are in APAC. Many of the countries that have slipped in the rankings compared with 2021 have done so due to increased costs (particularly for labour and electricity) and increased risk (economic, political and natural disaster); a number of these countries are in Europe where the war in Ukraine has...

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In this week’s Roar: the latest on COVID and China, Maersk’s view on the ocean markets, a stumble by blockchain in the supply chain, resolution preventing a US rail strike (and one side is NOT happy), and the lasting impact of the UK port strikes. It’s been a tough week for China, and while there may be some very good news on the horizon, it seems it may be too late to avert the damage done by their zero-COVID policies....

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This week, the European Commission adopted a proposal for the first EU-wide carbon removal certification scheme. With this proposal, the Commission hopes to “boost innovative carbon removal technologies and sustainable carbon farming solutions, and contribute to the EU’s climate, environmental and zero pollution goals”. As already acknowledged by the Commission and as we all know, reaching climate neutrality by mid-century will require us to use both natural ecosystems and industrial methods. Natural carbon removal takes place constantly all around us. Natural...

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In this News Update, we discuss the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU on the AMLD provision on UBOS; DNB's study on the evolution of crypto-assets and the regulatory response; DNB's study on insurers in a changing world; and EIOPA's staff paper comparing recovery and resolution frameworks for banks and insurers. We further highlight some other financial regulatory publications issued since our last News Update. Court of Justice of the EU | Judgment on AMLD provision on accessibility...

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These two figurative trade marks are not confusingly similar, according to the General Court of the EU. In a recent decision, the General Court held that the trade mark consisting of a figurative animal (right) does not cause a likelihood of confusion with respect to Elmar Wolf's earlier figurative trade mark (left), as they are visually only similar to a low degree and are conceptually dissimilar. There was no dispute regarding the relevant public nor with respect to the goods...

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After months of pressure from EU countries, the European Commission finally presented its eagerly awaited plans for a gas price cap this week in Strasbourg. Specifically, the plan refers to a measure of limiting excessive prices of gas, thereby aiming to protect both EU businesses and households, namely the so-called “market correction mechanism”. Belgium was one of about 12 countries – Italy, Poland and Greece among others – that had demanded the EU introduce an upper limit to ensure that gas prices...

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