Although the EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) entered into force on 25 May 2018, and the obligations under the GDPR have since taken effect, there remain significant uncertainties as regards enforcement. In particular, the application of the GDPR’s fining provisions – arguably the key concern for companies commercially – raises several issues,
Continue Reading GDPR Fines – Lessons from Competition Law
On 11 April 2016, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) announced that the German League Association (Ligaverband) and the German Football League (Deutsche Fußball Liga, DFL) have committed that no single pay-TV buyer can win exclusive live broadcasting rights to Bundesliga league games for the 2017/2018–2020/2021 seasons. The FCO made this “No Single Buyer” rule a precondition to green-light the proposed tendering model. Currently Sky Deutschland holds all domestic live broadcasting rights for Germany’s top football leagues until the end of the 2016/2017 season, having won the last tender in 2012.
Continue Reading German Federal Cartel Office: “No Single Buyer” for Football Broadcast Rights
The exclusive rights conferred by a patent may be subject to limitations based on competition law. For example, patents that have been declared essential to an industry standard (so-called standard essential patents, “SEP(s)”) shall be made available for licensing to all third parties under fair, reasonable and non discriminatory (“FRAND”) terms in order to comply with Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”) which sets forth that any abuse of a dominant position within the internal market shall be prohibited. This interface between patent and competition law is an area of potential friction and has been a matter for the courts for some years.
Continue Reading Court of Justice of the European Union Provides Restrictions for Asserting Standard Essential Patents in Europe