The combination of our new and traditional media expertise and Bird & Bird’s unique heritage and leading position in technology and communications make us ideally placed to help our clients to navigate this dynamic, fast-changing media landscape.
We understand the need for media players to diversify in order to step up to the challenges and opportunities of digital media.
Our creative and practical solutions help our clients to achieve real commercial advantage.
On both domestic and international matters, our team offers a full range of legal services.
Slovakia retains popular wine brand Tokaj
The producers of Tokaj wine in Slovakia may continue to use the brand name after the CJEU's decision (Case C-31/13P) on 13 February 2014 dismissing Hungary's Appeal and holding that the listing of the Slovak wine name “Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj” in the E-Bacchus register of protected designations of origins did not constitute an actionable measure within the meaning of Article 268 TFEU.
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Bird & Bird wins several awards in the international Who's Who Legal Awards 2014
Bird & Bird is pleased to announce that our firm won several awards at the Who's Who Legal Awards ceremony which took place in New York on Monday 31 March.
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Data Protection Regulation – EU Parliament Latest Resolution
On 12th March 2014, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of new data protection laws. The formal First Reading vote confirms the text of the draft Regulation approved by Parliament's LIBE Committee in October 2013.
This is, however, far from the end of the journey to new EU data protection law: the Council of Ministers has yet to finish its review of the Regulation, which must then be agreed with the Parliament.
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UK Intellectual Property Office copyright guidance on use of images on the web - Commentary by Graham Smith
The IPO today released a copyright notice giving guidance to small businesses and individuals who may wish to use digital or photographic images on the web. It also provides advice for people who may find their own images being used online. Graham Smith, a partner at leading law firm Bird & Bird, comments:
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IP and IT Law Bytes: Databases: Dedicated meta search engines
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has held that using a dedicated meta search engine can, in certain circumstances, amount to re-utilisation of the contents of a database under Article 7(2)(b) of the Database Directive (96/9/EC) (the Directive).
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European Cybersecurity Directive moves closer to becoming a reality
The European Union's draft directive regarding network and information security ("the Directive") took one step closer to becoming law on 23 January 2014, when the Parliamentary Committee overseeing the development of the legislation voted to adopt a set of Compromise Amendments which will now move forward to a full vote by the European Parliament in a plenary session on 10 March 2014. If the Parliament votes in favour, this draft of the Directive will be negotiated with the European Commission and the Council.
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European Commission awards Bird & Bird's EU & Competition team in Brussels a major contract
The European Commission has awarded Bird & Bird Brussels EU & Competition team a contract worth €2.75 million to study the impact of EU state aid legislation on Research & Development.
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European Commission proposes rules for the protection of trade secrets
On November 28th, 2013 the European Commission published a proposal for the harmonisation of trade secrets protection in the European Union.
The "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets)" (COM(2013) 813 final) was published only seven months after the release of the comprehensive "Study on Trade Secrets and Confidential Business Information in the Internal Market" (MARKT/2011/128/D). This study identified the great importance of trade secrets to small and medium-sized enterprises as well as start-ups, but an uneven level of their protection across the EU.
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