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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