ECJ rules on applicable law of Employment Contract
The European Court of Justice has provided a useful reminder that where a contract of employment contains no choice of law clause, the law applicable will not always be the law of the country where the employee works. Under the Rome Convention, a national court can find the applicable law is that of another country with which the employee has a closer connection.
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ECJ rules that grid integrity and security may justify restrictions on free movement
In its judgment in Netherlands v. Essent and others of 22 October, the European Court of Justice held that Dutch rules imposing various restrictions on the ownership of transmission and distribution operators could be justified on public interest grounds, by way of derogation from EU free movement rules. The judgment provides support for the argument that other restrictions of fundamental EU freedoms may be justified in the interests of security of supply
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Bird & Bird launches cloud computing iPad app
Bird & Bird has launched an iPad app covering commonly asked legal questions relating to cloud computing services across 11 jurisdictions.
Whether you are a supplier or a user of cloud services, this app covers the main issues you need to think about when setting up a cloud service and answers your questions on what you need to do to ensure you are compliant.
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European Commission updates explanatory note on carrying out dawn raids
In a move aimed at providing for technological advancement in business, the Commission has published revised guidance setting out how it will conduct dawn raids, including in particular the handling of data. Companies should consider whether it is necessary to update their own dawn raid manuals and checklists to reflect the Commission's new stated approach.
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New case law concerning advertising of alcoholic beverages on social networks
On 3 July 2013, the Supreme Court of Appeal in France published its judgement against online advertising for alcoholic beverages via social networks. Ricard, a leading drinks company, launched an advertising campaign entitled “One Ricard, many encounters”, across the internet. It also launched a free mobile application, Ricard Mix Code, requiring a Facebook account, showing its video publicity campaign and allowing the user to collect codes which would give them access to recipes for cocktails made with Ricard, which the user could then share on their Facebook page. Another itunes application, Ricard 3D, allowed the user to see a Ricard bottle in 3D.
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Bird & Bird submits proposal on the Rules of Procedure for the Unified Patent Court
On 25 June the Unified Patent Court published draft Rules of Procedure for public consultation. Yesterday Bird & Bird submitted suggestions for improvements to the UPC's Preparatory Committee, having already contributed to submissions from NGOs such as Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle (AIPPI) and European Patent Lawyers Association (EPLAW).
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Poland: Private companies will be able to purchase rights to new inventions from university scientists
Companies will now be able to acquire new technologies from scientists who are employed at universities and own the rights to the solutions created.
For several years now the Polish government has taken firm action in the economy designed to stimulate innovation, cooperation between science and business, as well as transfer of new technologies developed by state research units (SRU), such as universities, research institutes and scientific institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
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Poland: Criminal protection of designs is not so easy in Poland
A design owner may enforce their design rights in Poland via both civil and criminal proceedings. The decision whether to enforce using civil or criminal proceedings (or both) depends on the circumstances of the case and the design owner’s ultimate goals. However, in practice, many design owners turn to civil proceedings over criminal proceedings for the following reasons.
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