By Mark H. Moore  | Reavis Parent LLP On September 5, 2017, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice issued a decision of signal importance in the field of employee privacy. The Chamber condemned without sufficient justification an employer’s monitoring of an employee’s communications, leaving European employers with only vague guidance as to when such monitoring may be warranted. The employee at issue, Bogdan Mihai Bărbulescu, was employed as a sales engineer from August 2004 through August 2007 in the Bucharest...

By Vision Impact Institute | Essilor International Dear Friends, This month we’re honored to partner with vision advocates and organizations around the world for World Sight Day, an opportunity to lend our collective voice to reduce visual impairment and blindness. Held on the second Thursday of October each year, World Sight Day was first initiated by Lions Club International, and is currently coordinated by the International Agency to Prevent Blindness (IAPB) in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO).   It’s on days...

By Rick Torczon and Sonja Gerrard | Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati On October 4, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an en banc decision in Aqua Products, Inc., v. Matal, finding that the petitioner has the burden of proving the unpatentability of claims—even amended claims—entered in an inter partes review (IPR). This decision overrules earlier Federal Circuit decisions finding that the burden rested on the patent owner to prove patentability of amended claims and will...

By Loyens & Loeff Today, 4 October 2017, the EU Commission set out a process to come to a new VAT regime for cross-border trade expected to enter into force in 2022. The cornerstone of the proposal is the ‘destination’-principle  according to which  transactions will be taxed with VAT in the Member State of destination rather than in the Member State of the supplier or origin. To improve the functioning of the current system, the Commission has announced some ‘quick fixes’...

By the Delegation of the Basque Country to the United States The Learning Tour 2017 initiative, promoted by the Basque Government, aimed to showcase the most outstanding and remarkable aspects of the Basque Country and to promote the Basque sustainable development model. The delegation was made up of a group of seven US institutional, economic, and academic representatives, who were accompanied by the General Secretary for External Action, Marian Elorza, the Director of Foreign Affairs, Leyre Madariaga, and the Basque Country's Delegate to...

By Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati On October 3, 2017, the High Court of Ireland issued its decision in Data Protection Commissioner vs Facebook and Schrems1 concerning the validity of the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs)—a mechanism used by a very large number of companies to transfer personal data outside of the European Union. The Irish High Court referred this question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). This is the second time that the CJEU has been...

By Nauta Dutilh Corporate News NautaDutilh expands its New York office with a Luxembourg desk headed by Jad Nader, who recently has been named local partner. The firm's New York satellite team advises US clients on Dutch, Belgian, and Luxembourg law, particularly in regard to cross-border banking and finance and corporate M&A transactions. The arrival of a Luxembourg partner will increase the firm's capacity to handle Dutch and Luxembourg matters locally. "We are excited to be able to offer our US...

By Maria Fernanda Gandarez (New York City), Matthew Kolodziej (New York City), Rajula Sati (New York City) | Ogletree Deakins The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued new guidance establishing a presumption of willful misrepresentation when a foreign national, within 90 days of entry into the United States, engages in conduct that violates the terms of his or her nonimmigrant status. The individual will be presumed to have misrepresented his or her intent to comply with the terms of his...