Compliance Perspectives: The End of the Privacy Shield
Nota Bene Episode 89: European Q3 Check In - Merger Clearance and Data Protection Court Rulings and Brexit Updates with Oliver Heinisch
Cloud-based HR systems have become standard for multinational businesses, driving efficiency but also increasing compliance and privacy risks. Indeed, a recent Workday case, which originated in Germany, has clarified the...more
On May 13, 2025, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) issued a long-awaited decision (EnVR 83/20) on the question of whether an energy grid can be classified as an unregulated “customer installation” (Kundenanlage). In the...more
The beginning of 2025 saw two overarching trends in FRAND litigation...more
The Munich Higher Regional Court issued a decision concerning the fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) negotiation process and an implementer’s obligation to provide security if a license offer for standard...more
In November 2024, the Local Division (LD) Mannheim of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) issued the UPC’s first-ever substantive decision on standard essential patents (SEPs) and fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND)...more
The European Court of Justice recently found that a collective agreement provision on overtime pay potentially violated the prohibition of discrimination against part-time employees as well as the prohibition of...more
The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof), tasked with resolving a conflict between two competing pharmacists, sought guidance from the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") on interpreting the General...more
To help organizations stay on top of the main developments in European digital compliance, Morrison Foerster’s European Digital Regulatory Compliance team reports on some of the main topical digital regulatory and compliance...more
In joined Cases C‑26/22 and C‑64/22, related to the German Credit Reference Agency Schufa (see A&O blog on the automated decision making case), the CJEU considered the retention of personal data regarding individuals who had...more
On 7 December 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued an important decision on how the GDPR governs AI-assisted decisions. The case arose in the financial services context, with the court holding that...more
The CJEU’s final ruling could subject companies to direct GDPR enforcement by DPAs notwithstanding national procedural rules, but may rule against strict liability under the GDPR. On 27 April 2023 Advocate General of the...more
Der Europäische Gerichtshof (EuGH) wird bald darüber entscheiden, ob europäische Datenschutzbehörden künftig leichter Bußgelder nach Art. 83 DSGVO gegen Unternehmen verhängen können. Diese Entscheidung kann großen Einfluss...more
In a surprising decision of 13 September 2022 (1 ABR 22/21), the BAG ruled that companies are already obliged to introduce a system for recording working time. With this decision, the BAG has surpassed the German legislator:...more
The European Court of Justice in a recent judgment nullified a key provision in the 2018 version of the EU Money Laundering Directive requiring that information regarding beneficial owners registered in the European national...more
The Data Protection Authority (“DPA”) of the German state Hamburg is one of the first European DPA to publish an optimistic assessment on the U.S. Executive Order on “Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals...more
A recent decision of the German Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) shows yet again that the issue of working time remains highly fraught for German employers. Following a 2019 ruling of the European Court of...more
Das Amtsgericht Hagen hat dem Europäischen Gerichtshof („EuGH“) verschiedene Fragen zur Geltendmachung von Schadensersatzforderungen nach Art. 82 DSGVO vorgelegt (Rs. C-687/21). Ein Kläger hatte von der Saturn...more
The Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") has opined for the first time on the controversial 1996 EU Blocking Regulation,1 which prohibits EU companies from complying with certain US sanctions...more
On 25 October 2021, the Administrative Court of Wiesbaden (the Court) announced its decision, issued in early October, to submit two questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the scope of the...more
Immer mehr Kläger fordern immateriellen Schadensersatz von Unternehmen, die ihre personenbezogenen Daten verarbeiten. Dementsprechend kommen auch immer mehr Fälle vor Gericht....more
The EU General Court (GC) recently ruled on copyright protection for standardisation documents, such as DIN (German Institute for Standardisation) documents. The GC ruled that, under certain circumstances, such documents can...more
According to a press release of the data protection authority (DPA) of Lower Saxony earlier this month, nine German DPAs will participate in a coordinated audit of companies in Germany regarding their transfers of personal...more
The German patent system has repeatedly proven to provide reliable and effective means to enforce patent rights against infringers. There are three key reasons why the German patent system is so attractive for patentees when...more
At the beginning of the year, the German data protection authorities (DPAs) announced that they would take joint action to enforce the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the "Schrems II" case. On June 1,...more
Several German Data Protection Authorities commence independent investigation of cross border transfers of personal data in violation of Schrems II...more