The Digital Services Act ("DSA"), which entered into force for all intermediary services and online platforms in February 2024, aims to modernize and harmonize the regulation of third-party content across the EU. It notably...more
7/22/2025
/ Brand ,
Counterfeiting ,
Data Protection ,
Digital Services ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Online Platforms ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Third-Party ,
Trademarks
Evidence is a key battleground in virtually all patent litigation cases. As a Court designed to combine the best and most efficient features of the main EU national patent litigation systems, the Unified Patent Court (“UPC”)...more
6/30/2025
/ Data Preservation ,
Dawn Raids ,
Discovery ,
Duty to Preserve ,
EU ,
Evidence ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legal Technology ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Unified Patent Court
The Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") recently issued an important ruling in the case of Società Italiana Lastre SpA (SIL) v. Agora SARL (C-537/23). The decision addresses the validity criteria of asymmetric...more
5/5/2025
/ Business Litigation ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Jurisdiction ,
Litigation Strategies
Recent rulings indicate that it will be easier for cartel victims to pursue their claims in German courts by assigning them to a special purpose vehicle ("SPV"), which then litigates the combined claims as the sole plaintiff...more
The doctrine of equivalents is a staple patent law principle, addressing the tension between providing fair protection to innovative ideas and ensuring legal certainty for third parties. However, like most patent laws, the...more
12/18/2024
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Doctrine of Equivalents ,
EU ,
European Patent Convention ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
The Hague ,
Unified Patent Court ,
Unified Patent System
Dramatic changes to EU product liability rules are expected to drive an increase in litigation....more
12/2/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Corporate Counsel ,
EU ,
Manufacturers ,
New Regulations ,
Product Defects ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Software ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Strict Product Liability
In a November 12, 2024, decision, the Court of Appeal ("CoA") of the Unified Patent Court ("UPC") has clarified under which circumstances a European patent that has been opted out and has been the subject of legal proceedings...more
The Unified Patent Court ("UPC") and the unitary patent—which came into force in June 2023—were created at the request of European industry in order to benefit from a single title (the unitary patent) covering the territory...more
The European Patent Office ("EPO") has committed to specific timelines for its new practice of accelerating opposition proceedings....more
The UPC, a single patent court for European Union Member States, has published the first statistics on its case load since its establishment in 2023. Between June 1, 2023, and January 31, 2024, a total of 196 cases were filed...more
Although class actions have been common in the United States for decades, they have not been as widely used in the rest of the world. The situation and risks remain in flux, however, as more countries have renewed momentum to...more
12/22/2023
/ Article III ,
Australia ,
Class Action ,
EU ,
France ,
Germany ,
International Litigation ,
Jurisdiction ,
Settlement ,
Standing ,
UK
Class actions have been a feature of the litigation landscape in the USA for decades. Claimant-friendly procedures combined with an aggressive and well-funded plaintiffs’ bar have created fertile ground for these large,...more
10/5/2023
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Data Breach ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Litigation Funding ,
Technology Sector ,
UK
Nearly every board of a publicly traded company in the European Union, United Kingdom, or United States will have considered and, for most, reported on ESG matters. And it is not just public companies. In what has been little...more
In Short -
The Situation: With the introduction of the Unified Patent Court ("UPC") system in Europe, the co-ownership of patents will have material effect on patents with unitary effect ("Unitary Patent")....more
In Short -
The Situation: While the national case laws of most Unified Patent Court ("UPC") Member States generally accept infringement actions by licensees, the scope and requirements of such actions differ greatly. The...more
Judges were recruited from across Europe and appointed in accordance with the decisions of the UPC Administrative Committee. The UPC will be led by German Federal Court of Justice Judge Klaus Grabinski as president of the...more
In March 2022, the European Commission published "REPowerEU," a blueprint of its planned changes to the regulation of European Union energy markets in direct response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. At...more
The creation of a new European Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) and a new patent with unitary effect (“Unitary Patent”), in which almost all member states of the European Union participate, is the most important change in the...more
On February 8, 2022, the Chamber of Deputies approved a proposed law ("Constitutional Reform" or "Reform") to include environmental, health and animal protection among the fundamental principles of the Italian Constitution,...more
2/25/2022
/ Business Plans ,
Capital Investments ,
Climate Change ,
Constitutional Amendment ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Italy ,
Sustainability
Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism -
The Enabling Act provides for the reorganization (via a consolidated act) and the promotion of out-of-court means to resolve disputes, i.e., mediation and the so-called...more
The Situation: Negotiators for the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (the "Council") have reached an agreement on new European rules on collective consumer action. The Council has thus published a...more
As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is spreading around Europe and governments take steps towards slowing down the propagation of the virus, courts are reducing activities. In every jurisdiction, where efforts are...more
As the activity of administrative authorities and courts is directly impacted by measures to slow down the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many questions arise as to the impact on proceedings and deadlines for private...more
In the Italian public enforcement matter La Roche-Novartis v. Antitrust Authority, the State Council (the administrative court of second instance, which has exclusive jurisdiction on antitrust cases) recently issued a...more
10/23/2019
/ Administrative Review ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Exclusive Jurisdiction ,
Italy ,
Judicial Review
The Situation: Belgian class actions are currently available to consumers, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises ("SMEs") seeking damages from businesses for violations of a number of EU and Belgian...more