Whilst political uncertainty may have businesses’ attention fixed, the Hogan Lovells Global Survey on Digital Regulation: ‘A Turning Point for Tech’ suggests that tech companies should be looking elsewhere. During yesterday’s launch at Hogan Lovells’ London Office, editor of the survey, Falk Schoening uncovered the 452 digital regulations that had been proposed across 16 jurisdictions in just six months of … Continue Reading
Category Archives: Internet
New USPTO rule: Applicants and registrants to provide email address
The USPTO’s new all-electronic processing initiative has imposed a new requirement on all applicants and registrants to update their application and registration records to provide an email address for correspondence with the office.
That requirement is effective as of 5 October 2019 and applies even for applications that already identify an appointed attorney for USPTO communications. The email address will … Continue Reading
U.S. government investigates potential threat to e-service providers: France’s Digital Service Tax
On 10 July 2019, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) initiated an investigation pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into France’s Digital Services Tax (DST) to determine whether the tax is discriminatory or unreasonable and burdens or restricts United States commerce.
Following an affirmative finding by USTR, the U.S. may take unilateral actions against … Continue Reading
Digital Battle in Russia: Russian Parliament will consider a Draft Law on Foreign Ownership Restrictions in Significant Internet / Information Resources in Russia
Click here for text in Russian/текст сообщения на русском языке
Russia is facing potential restrictions of foreign ownership in digital companies. This follows on similar restrictions over Russian mass media companies and online cinemas which took effect in 2016 and 2017, respectively. These proposed amendments coincide with the announcement of major e-commerce and foodtech JV deals in Russia with participation … Continue Reading
Cyber Security: NCSC warns over global DNS hijacking
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), an organisation of the UK Government that provides cybersecurity advice and support for the public and private sector, published an article earlier this year relating to a recent large-scale global DNS hijacking campaign. The article discusses the risks and solutions for protecting organisations against such attacks, whereby the Domain Name System (DNS) records of … Continue Reading
Launch of brand protection service for adult oriented gTLDs
The Registry Minds + Machines Group Limited (MMX), which owns 32 new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) such as .VIP, .WORK or .LUXE, has recently launched a blocking service that enables trade mark holders to protect their rights across the adult namespace.
This new service enables trade mark holders to block domain name registrations under the four adult oriented gTLDs … Continue Reading
IoT Webinar Series: Cyberthreats in the Internet of Things
On July 16, 2019, Nathan Salminen, Allison Holt, and Paul Otto from the Hogan Lovells Privacy and Cybersecurity and Litigation teams presented a webinar, “Cyberthreats in the Internet of Things” where they explored some techniques that can be used to exploit potential vulnerabilities in connected devices and how those types of events impact organizations from a regulatory and litigation perspective.… Continue Reading
China: 2-year time-bar revised to 3 years under CNDRP
Previously, under the CNNIC ccTLD Dispute Resolution Policy (CNDRP) which governs the .CN (and .中国) domain in China, no complaints under CNDRP could be filed against a .CN domain which had been registered for more than 2 years.
This time bar led to debates as to whether it imposes an unreasonable time limit on the fair and equitable enforcement of … Continue Reading
.PL Registry lock service introduced
NASK, the organisation responsible for the Top Level Domain .PL (Poland), recently announced the introduction of a Registry Lock service for .PL domain names.
Locking a domain name at the Registry level provides an added layer of security against domain name hijacking. Domain name hijacking occurs when an attacker gains unauthorised access to registration data for a domain name, thereby … Continue Reading
Internet of Things – A Fast Forward to the Future
On Monday, April 29th 2019, policy makers and industry representatives from different IoT ‘verticals’ (agriculture, automotive, health, energy, aerospace) gathered in Brussels at the initiative of Vodafone to launch a conversation about the future policies applicable to the Internet of Things (IoT) in Europe.
Global Players Require Global Regulation
The debate emphasized how global any approach to IoT regulation should … Continue Reading
Hogan Lovells represents Twitter in first ever “fake news” case
London, Paris, 4 June 2019 – Hogan Lovells recently represented Twitter in the first case brought under the new French ‘fake news’ law.
On 17 May a claim brought by Ms. Marie-Pierre Vieu (a European Deputy running for reelection) and Mr. Pierre Ouzoulias (a French Senator), against Hogan Lovells client Twitter France SAS, was dismissed by the Paris Civil Court.… Continue Reading
.CLUB launches brand protection service
.CLUB Domains, the Registry operating the .CLUB new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD), has recently launched a new service that enables qualified trade mark holders to block .CLUB domain name registrations containing their trade marks.
According to the .CLUB Domains’ press release, the Trademark Sentry Unlimited Name Blocking Service (UNBS) “protects a trademark from appearing in any portion of … Continue Reading
Analyzing the impact of the EU GDPR on access to WHOIS data, one year on
During the Annual INTA 2019 Meeting, a panel was held on the EU General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) and the temporary removal of data for the WHOIS directory. IPMT Partner David Taylor spoke on the following GDPR issues and their impact on global brand protection.
When the GDPR came into force back in 2018, the Internet Corporation for Assigned … Continue Reading
Privacy and Cybersecurity June 2019 Events
Please join us for our June events.
June 4
Privacy Breakfast
Paul Otto and Tim Tobin are presenting at the Hogan Lovells Munich office’s privacy breakfast, “EU General Data Protection Regulation,” on privacy topics such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), cybersecurity and data breaches, and sector-specific issues found in the life sciences and health care, automotive, and financial … Continue Reading
WIPO Domain Name Dispute Resolution: One Americano, please!
In a recent decision under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a Panel refused to order the transfer of a Domain Name because the Complainant failed to demonstrate that the Respondent registered the domain name in bad faith.
This decision serves as a reminder that having a trade mark does not … Continue Reading
The European Union adopts a new .EU Regulation
On 19 March 2019, the European Union adopted Regulation (eu) 2019/517 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 on the implementation and functioning of the .eu top-level domain name and amending and repealing Regulation (EC) No 733/2002 and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 874/2004, otherwise known as the .eu Regulation.
Background
As its name indicates, … Continue Reading
N.D. California Straightens Out Competitor’s Use of Infringing Hashtags: #newdevelopments in Using Trademarks as Hashtags
The Northern District of California recently released an order that sheds new light on how courts grapple with the constantly-increasing use of trademarks as hashtags.
Align Technology, Inc., provider of the Invisalign teeth-straightening-system, also produces the iTero Element intraoral scanner that allows dentists to obtain three-dimensional scans of a patient’s mouth, teeth, and gums. To complement this product, Align sells … Continue Reading
Spring fever at the IP Lounge 3.0 on influencer marketing
On 11 April 2019 our Düsseldorf office hosted its third IP Lounge. The IP Lounge is an event planned and hosted by our younger associates and particularly addresses “Young Professionals” to provide a time and place to get to know each other and exchange ideas.
This time, the hot-topic “Influencer-Marketing” was discussed. Dr. Ricarda Braun, Kerstin Jonen and Dr. … Continue Reading
.UK right of registration – have you secured your .UK domain?
Nominet, the Registry responsible for operating the .UK country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) for the United Kingdom, launched the registration of domain names directly under the .UK top level domain name extension back in June 2014. Eligible registrants were given five years to secure their .UK domain names. They only have a couple of months left as the reservation … Continue Reading
EUIPO issues a Comparative Case Study on Alternative Resolution Systems for Domain Name Disputes
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) recently published a Comparative Case Study on Alternative Resolution Systems for Domain Name Disputes which highlights the main similarities and differences between various Dispute Resolution Procedures (DRPs), analysing in particular the different procedures, fees, timelines and case statistics. The study also compared the likely outcomes of a few selected DRPs in relation … Continue Reading
Crumbs of Comfort: the Advocate-General’s Opinion on Consent and Cookies in Planet49
It’s no secret that a hot topic, perhaps the hot topic, in the European data protection world at present is the interplay between the GDPR and the e-Privacy Directive, in particular how it affects online advertising involving cookies. The European Data Protection Board recently released an opinion on this topic (as we discuss here), and on 21 March the … Continue Reading
UK House of Lords Select Committee calls for a Digital Authority to regulate the online world
On 9 March 2019, the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications published its report on “Regulating in a digital World”. It included a number of recommendations to the government, including 10 guiding principles for the development of regulation online, a new public interest test for data driven mergers and a new Digital Authority, to oversee regulation of the digital … Continue Reading
Webinar: From homes to stadiums – Brand presence in esports
On 27 and 28 March, our global IP team will take a look at some of the emerging opportunities and risks for brand owners exploring opportunities in the esports market: from innovative advertising and marketing activities during tournaments and within games, sponsorship of tournaments or teams, to merchandise and fan items (see earlier post here). Esports refers … Continue Reading
Study shows complexity and uncertainty of IoT regulation in Europe
A Hogan Lovells study comparing of regulatory requirements in the European Union, United States, and China shows the complexity and uncertainty of the regulatory framework relevant to Internet of Things (IoT) in Europe. The number of telecoms regulatory constraints affecting IoT in the EU is almost twice as high as in the United States and China. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) … Continue Reading