Today in New York, the Tree at Rockefeller Center will be lit, kicking off the 2020 holiday season. This year we will be watching the lighting from home, as we imagine many of you will too. As an alternate celebration of the Tree Lighting, we took a day off to participate in a tree planting event with One Tree Planted. It was a rewarding experience - and one we'd like to share with you. We will not ask you to get...

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Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission is already looking ahead to set its consumer protection priorities for the next five years. Key points in the New Consumer Agenda include equipping consumers with better information on product sustainability, digital transformation, effective enforcement, safety concerning products ‘made in China’ and protecting particularly vulnerable consumers such as children, older people or those with disabilities. The New Consumer Agenda is a follow-up to the 2018 New Deal for Consumers. On 13 November 2020, the Commission...

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European Data Protection Board publishes recommendations on measures to supplement transfer tools for international data transfer Background: the CJEU‘s “Schrems II” decision In a remarkable decision dated 16 July 2020 in the “Schrems II” case, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidated the European Commission’s Implementation Decision on the “EU-US Privacy Shield” without a transitional period, thus dealing a harsh blow to transatlantic data transfer. The CJEU’s decision also focused on the EU standard data protection clauses (or “standard contractual clauses”) that have often been used as transfer...

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The end of the annus horribilis is at hand, and despite the hard winter ahead for the northern hemisphere, there is a sense of optimism for the new year.  The first generation of vaccines for the coronavirus appears promising. The US has elected as president a person who is within the internationalist tradition.  The UK's standstill agreement with the EU will still expire at the end of the year, but many are still hopeful a last-minute deal can still be...

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SEP licensing in supply chains: ECJ gets opportunity for a major trend-setting decision In a decision of November 26, 2020 in a patent infringement case of Nokia Technologies Oy against Daimler AG, the Düsseldorf Regional Court (file number 4c O 17/19) referred several questions to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) regarding the licensing of standard essential patents (SEPs) within multi-level supply chains. The Düsseldorf Regional Court suspended the infringement action until the decision of the ECJ. These questions referred...

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This article is part of Portolano Cavallo's monthly “INFORM@ Digital & IP” Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. | On October 22, 2020 through Resolution No. 541/20/CONS, the Italian Communications Authority (“AGCOM”) issued an administrative pecuniary sanction in the amount of EUR 100,000.00 to Google Ireland Limited (“Google Ireland”) for infringing the general ban on gambling advertising prescribed under Article 9 of Law Decree No. 87/2018 (the “Ban” and the “Decreto Dignità”, respectively). The decision in question is particularly interesting from a twofold perspective. Firstly, in...

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