Technology neutrality is one of the key principles of the European regulatory framework for electronic communications. The principle was first introduced in 2002, and reinforced in the 2009 with the revised EU telecoms legislation. Since the 2009 revisions, all spectrum licenses in Europe are supposed to be “technology neutral.” Since 2011, technology neutrality has also been recognized as a key … Continue Reading
Hogan Lovells’ Intellectual Property, Media and Technology team is excited to announce the launch of LimeGreen IP News.
Complementing our LimeGreen IP know-how site, this new online news platform is designed not only to provide you with detailed discussion on recent case law and decisions but also to provide the latest business critical IP trends and issues from around … Continue Reading
On December 19, 2013, the Standardization Administration of China (“SAC”) and the State Intellectual Property Office issued the Regulatory Measures on National Standards Involving Patents (Interim) (“Patent Measures”). Before issuing the Patent Measures, SAC issued draft proposals for public comment in 2004, 2009, and 2012, respectively. This comment-and-revision process culminated in the Patent Measures, which came into effect on January … Continue Reading
As part of the constitutional reform in telecommunications matters published on 11 June 2013 (the Constitutional Reform), the new Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law (the Law) was finally published on 14 July, and went into effect this past 13 August.
The new Law establishes a new regulatory framework in the telecommunications and broadcasting sector in Mexico, which contains the principles … Continue Reading
The FCC is expected to vote on rules governing the broadcast incentive auction during its May 15 open meeting. Although the Report and Order outlining the rules is still being circulated internally among FCC leadership and has not been released to the public, the FCC has not been shy about telegraphing the direction the final rules might take, including broadcaster-related … Continue Reading
The Mexican telecommunication regulatory body is in the midst of a significant overhaul, and major changes on the horizon could affect any entity with wireless voice or data operations near the U.S.-Mexican border. Should uncertainty persist into the new year, the Mexican regulatory transition has the potential to affect the upcoming 600 MHz incentive auction, which will require intensive international … Continue Reading
The rise of patent litigation by non-practicing entities (“NPEs”), colloquially known as “patent trolls,” has resulted in a “chess game”: companies that rely on patents must employ an interdisciplinary defensive strategy involving litigation, regulatory and legislative fronts, according to Ray Kurz, partner in Hogan Lovells’s Washington, D.C. office, who spoke at the firm’s annual Winnik forum. As Hogan Lovells partner … Continue Reading
Gathered as part of the Winnik International Telecommunications & Internet Forum, a panel of experts addressed the protection of intellectual property rights on the Internet. Moderator Peter Watts, partner in the Hogan Lovells’s London office, noted that it was not until almost 300 years after the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press that the first copyright law was implemented. And … Continue Reading
The District Court of Hamburg, Germany, recently had the opportunity to review the conditions governing the use of Open Source software. In a decision that bolsters the enforceability of open source software licenses, the district court confirmed that the defendant had lost its right to use the software licensed under the General Public License (GPLv2) when it failed to fully … Continue Reading
Copyright holders can request inspection of source code at the defendant’s premises by court experts if reasonable grounds indicate unlawful use of copyright protected software by the defendant. According to a recent decision of the Federal Court of Justice (“FCJ”), published mid-April, this also applies if the copyright holder only claims infringement of parts of his software and even if … Continue Reading
As of 1 June 2013, online news sites that regularly report on Singapore matters and which are accessed by a significant number of Singapore readers will need to apply to the Media Development Authority of Singapore (“MDA”) for a new individual licence.
The MDA contends that the new licensing regime has been implemented in order to create greater consistency amongst … Continue Reading
Recap
When we last checked in on our combatants, federal district courts in New York and California had come to contrary conclusions as to whether the unlicensed delivery of copyrighted content to subscribers over the Internet by companies that used virtually identical technologies constituted a public performance under the Transmit Clause of the Copyright Act.[1] In both cases, the companies … Continue Reading
Mexico has announced a major reform in the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors, liberalizing not only foreign investment, but also promising antitrust enforcement and government infrastructure sharing, along with targeted sector-specific regulatory reform. These changes, when implemented, will provide significant opportunities for international investors to enter and/or increase their positions in the Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting sectors.
The attached summary presents … Continue Reading
The French telecommunications regulatory authority, ARCEP, today announced that it had complained to the French prosecutor about Skype’s persistent failure to register as a telecommunications operator in France. According to the ARCEP, the Skype service that permits users to call telephone numbers on public fixed and mobile networks constitutes a publicly available telephone service and therefore requires Skype to … Continue Reading
Technology continues to evolve at an ever increasing pace, often leaving in its wake lawsuits that require the application of laws enacted before the technological advancements occurred. Perhaps it is not too surprising, then, that in struggling to apply “old laws” to “new technologies,” courts sometimes reach contrary conclusions.
A recent example of this phenomenon involves two companies that provided … Continue Reading
On December 13, 2012 the Texas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) ruled that the City of San Antonio’s electric company had discriminated against Time Warner Cable and in favor of AT&T. The PUC found that the discrimination occurred with respect to the rates (that were four to five times as high), terms and conditions for access to the utility’s poles (including … Continue Reading
When last year’s “supercommittee” failed to reach consensus on a plan to reduce the deficit, it set in motion $1.2 trillion in defense and non-defense spending cuts for 2013. If Congress does not act to prevent this “sequestration” by January 2, 2013, the budget axe will fall across virtually every element of the US government. The Office of Management and … Continue Reading
Hidden in the recesses of the Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Bill are some potentially radical changes to the UK’s copyright regime. These proposed reforms would result in a drastic increase of the duration of copyright protection for certain artistic works.
Section 52 of the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988 currently curtails the duration of copyright in many mass-produced artistic … Continue Reading
The European Commission has issued a proposed Directive on the “collective management of copyright and multi-territorial licensing of rights in musical works for online use”. The focus of the Directive is on the freedom of choice for rights holders (namely record labels and musicians) – they should be entitled to choose which collecting society to use in managing their rights … Continue Reading
The German Federal Court of Justice decided in two cases that within normal circumstances a sub licence does not cease to exist if the main licence expires.
The cases
In both cases the owners of the rights to a copyright protected work sued sub licensees for copyright infringement after the main licence, from which the sub licensees derived their rights, … Continue Reading
