Clifford Chance

Global Intellectual Property Newsletter –23rd Edition – Legal Issues Surrounding the Protection of 'Data' and other IP Topics

11 September 2019

We welcome you to the 23rd Edition of the Clifford Chance Global IP Newsletter. This newsletter has a focus on legal issues concerning the protection and use of 'Data'.

We start with the question of whether there is a need for an ownership right to data regarding its growing importance as an economic asset.

Colleagues from Hong Kong, the UK, Poland and Germany present the current legal status in each country regarding data ownership, the protection of data as a Trade Secret and the protection of data in individual cases.

The next article looks at Australia’s Notifiable Data Breach Scheme and current developments in this context, in particular whether it should also be applied with respect to IP rights. The following article covers the guidelines issued by the Italian authorities for Competition, Data Protection and Communications in February 2019 that address certain competition and data protection concerns in relation to Big Data. Further, our Italian colleagues will look at the third version of the European Directive on Public Sector Information, which aims to promote the use of Open Data, its implementation in Italian law and the role Open Data can play in furthering digital economy. In another article, a new Italian law providing the first legal definitions for Distributed Ledger Technology and Smart Contracts is discussed.

Data is also of great relevance for Smart Products. In this context, special liability issues will be addressed. The same applies in the context of the Internet of Things, for which data is indispensable. Therefore, light will be shed on the challenges of developing smart devices for the Internet of Things against the restrictions set out by the General Data Protection Regulation.

Data can occur in various forms. In particular, it may also form or be part of trade secrets. For this reason, our German colleagues have dealt with the new German Trade Secret Act and the new features that go along with it.

Moreover, we have an article summarizing and examining a Spanish Royal Decree implementing an amended system of fair compensation for copyright holders with regards to private copying.

We hope you enjoy reading this latest issue of the Global IP Newsletter and look forward to receiving your feedback.

Your Global CC IP Team

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