Given the favorable environment in China and in some other foreign countries, many U.S.-based companies elect to have products manufactured abroad for eventual sale in the United States. If, however, the products are branded with a trademark during the manufacturing process, the U.S.-based company may wish to take additional steps to ensure they are not inadvertently infringing trademark rights in the foreign country. Continue Reading
Cross-Border Data Transfers Just Became More Complicated: EU Court of Justice Strikes Down EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
In an action with major ramifications for data transfers from the European Union (EU) to the United States (U.S.) the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on July 16 invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework (Privacy Shield), which provided a critical, lawful method for transferring personal data from the EU to the U.S. Entities relying on the Privacy Shield need to act quickly to rework the legal basis for those transfers. The CJEU somewhat limited the impact by finding that the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) remain valid. As a result, transfers based on the SCCs may continue, subject to some additional guidance and caveats from the CJEU.
The CJEU’s finding resolved an appeal from the Irish High Court regarding a case known as Schrems II, initiated by Austrian privacy advocate, Max Schrems. The Irish High Court asked the CJEU for a preliminary ruling on the validity of the SCCs and Privacy Shield. Continue Reading
NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness Modernization Presses Forward
On June 12, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a name, image and likeness (“NIL”) bill into law, moving up the deadline for the NCAA to complete ongoing efforts to modernize its NIL rules. Unlike California’s Fair Pay to Play Act and Colorado’s NIL bill, which have both been previously signed with effective dates in 2023, the Florida NIL bill would allow student-athletes to profit off their NIL in Florida beginning July 1, 2021. More than 30 additional states have pending NIL legislation moving through the legislative process.
While the NCAA has dealt with a myriad of issues in 2020, NIL modernization efforts continue to press forward, and the Florida law sets a tighter timeline for either the NCAA or the federal government to put forward a national standard to avoid a state-by-state approach to NIL issues. While the specific form the NIL rule changes will take is not yet clear, it seems near certain that student-athletes will be allowed to profit off their NIL rights in the very near future.
California Is at It Again: The California Privacy Rights Act Makes November Ballot
The Californians for Consumer Privacy group is continuing to push for increased rights regarding consumer data through the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), a measure that would expand the rights granted under the existing California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which was effective on January 1 of this year. On June 24, the California Secretary of State confirmed that the CPRA initiative collected 900,000 signatures, which was enough to qualify for the November ballot.
The proposed CPRA would expand the privacy rights granted to California residents under the CCPA by:
Supreme Court Expands Rights to Register Domain Names as Trademarks
The United States Supreme Court issued a decision on June 30, 2020, holding that “Booking.com” can be registered as a trademark. The decision, United States Patent and Trademark Office, et al, vs. Booking.com B. V., reverses longstanding Trademark Office policy and should significantly expand the number of Internet domain names that can be registered as trademarks in the United States. Continue Reading
