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
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
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
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
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
Die Entscheidung des EuGH wird erhebliche Auswirkungen auf Unternehmen und Schadensersatzklagen nach Art. 82 DSGVO haben. Der Österreichische Oberste Gerichtshof (OGH) hat mit Beschluss vom 15. April 2021 (Az. 6Ob35/21x)...more
Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment in the Global Healthcare Industry - Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) seek out investments that are resilient, conducive to their aims and objectives, and reasonably free from market...more
The Bavarian Data Protection Authority recently prohibited a European company from using U.S. newsletter provider Mailchimp in a first-of-its-kind decision. Since the Schrems II decision of the Court of Justice of the...more
In a case referred by German authorities, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) resolved a dispute between a visual arts copyright collecting society and a cultural heritage foundation involving a digital library...more
Website and app operators are jointly liable with Facebook for violations of European data protection law - In its judgment of 29 July 2019 (ref.C-40/17), the European Court of Justice has ruled on two essential points...more
In the span of two weeks in August, two different owners of allegedly standard essential patent (SEP) portfolios—asserted against the implementation of cellular standards including 4G/LTE—won cases in Germany and in the...more