API is an abbreviation for Application Programming Interface and tells how software elements will interact. APIs emerged in the early days of computer science as libraries for operating systems, allowing code sharing and modification. And although it was used to send messages between mainframes occasionally, its function was essentially to transmit data between local environments. The use of these interfaces as we know them today, based on open protocols, is recent and took shape almost three decades later. The fact is...

Last week, President Biden’s comprehensive immigration reform proposal, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, was introduced in the House and Senate. As officials in the administration initially reported, the provisions for the proposed legislation indeed include a pathway to citizenship for noncitizens physically present in the United States as of January 1, 2021 (including DACA holders), along with more protections for employment-based immigration. The Act has been regarded a moderate plan meant to attract bipartisan support and would modernize many facets of the...

This article is part of Portolano Cavallo’s “INFORM@Corporate” Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. | At the end of 2020, important regulatory measures regarding Italian foreign investment control regulations (known as the Golden Powers) were enacted: (i) a revised list and definition of critical and strategic assets in sectors relevant for the purposes of these regulations entered into force with effect from January 14, 2021, and (ii) the COVID-19 emergency rules providing for a temporary broadening of the scope of notification duties (which,...

The Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) amends the U.S. Trademark Act, or Lanham Act, in several important ways, most notably shifting the burden of proving irreparable harm away from trademark owners. First, the TMA clarifies that a plaintiff seeking preliminary or permanent injunctive relief “shall be entitled to a rebuttable presumption of irreparable harm” upon a finding of infringement or a likelihood of success on an infringement claim. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in eBay, Inc. v. MercExchange, 547 U.S. 388...

The ECB meeting is the most important calendar event in the week ahead.  It is true that the US reports February CPI figures, but the base effect surge begins with the March reading.  Still, headline inflation will likely be lifted by rising food and energy prices.  The core rate has been flat for the past two months, and a small rise should not be surprising. Last March, headline CPI fell by 0.3%.  In April, it tumbled 0.7% and another 0.1%...

On February 10, 2021, the Council of the European Union (EU) agreed on its version of the draft ePrivacy Regulation (Council Position). The long-awaited ePrivacy Regulation, which will repeal the existing ePrivacy Directive, overhauls the rules on cookies and regulates the use of and access to electronic communications data. The new ePrivacy Regulation will directly regulate telecom operators, providers of voice over IP, messaging and web-based email services, as well as other types of digital communication services. Importantly, it will...

With just hours to spare before the European Parliament was set to decide its schedule on ratifying the post-Brexit agreement, the UK Government’s announcement that it would temporarily, but unilaterally, change the rules for trade into Northern Ireland caused indignation across Brussels and national capitals. In a way, it is a stunning repeat of the controversy around the UK Government’s September proposal to “break international law in a specific and limited way” through its Internal Market Bill. This latest dispute between...