Central European Lawyers Initiative’s Post

A number of aspects of the #dataact can be highlighted. It is noteworthy from a #competitionlaw point of view that the Data Act applies competition law principles to the protection of innovation. This competition law innovation protection can be found in precedents of refusals to supply involving intellectual property rights (e.g. Magill, IMS Health, Microsoft). It is the 'new product' element of the exceptional circumstances test that prevents copying of the innovation. (see: Case T-201/04, Microsoft, para. 632.) According to the Data Act: "aim of this Regulation is [...] to foster the development of new, innovative connected products or related services, stimulate innovation on aftermarkets." (recital 32.) Interestingly, the Data Act determines the character of a new product depending on whether the connected product from which the data are obtained is considered interchangeable or substitutable by users, i.e. whether the two connected products compete on the same product market. (ibid.) 🤔 In previous Court practice, the new product and substitutability were not explicitly related. In its decision in the Microsoft case, the Commission made this determination. (Case COMP/C-3/37.792 Microsoft, para. 466.)

The is the very first case on the effect of data registration certificate in the PRC. This case underscores the importance of data registration and the recognition of substantial investment in data collection and processing as a basis for asserting data rights.

We delve into the inbuilt safeguards proposed by the DGA to foster trust in data sharing and reuse, helping #CDOs to navigate their rights and exploit the potential this often untapped data offers. To read the full blog post, click below: 👇

We're excited to attend the International Data Law Forum (IDLF). The inaugural conference in the Hague focuses on global data laws and regulations. Learn more about the event here: https://hubs.ly/Q02GyF2S0 #Data #LegalTech #LegalEvent

Call for tenders - evaluation of data-related legislation Free Flow of #NonPersonalDataRegulation #OpenDataDirective #DataGovernanceAct #data #datalegislation https://lnkd.in/dPwkPBt6

Tech & Data Law: 5 trends for 2024 - by Vincent Wellens and Garance Diacono, NautaDutilh - AGEFI Luxembourg - Le Journal Financier de Luxembourg, January 2024 - Read on https://lnkd.in/dhf4HAm

Perhaps this is a good moment to share a short paper that Alexandra Ivanova and I co-authored last year on antitrust implications of the (then: Draft) Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854) and the Horizontal Guidelines: Horizontal-LL und Data Act, ÖBl 2023, 235. The Data Act has already sparked a wealth of wonderful literature that we were more than happy to build on. To mention a few (and many more could be added): Heike Schweitzer / Axel Metzger, Data Access under the Draft Data Act, Competition Law and the DMA: Opening the Data Treasures for Competition and Innovation?, GRUR International 2023, 337 provide a comprehensive assessment of the Data Act from an antitrust point of view. Prof.Dr. Peter Georg Picht, Caught in the Acts: Framing Mandatory Data Access Transactions Under the Data Act, Further EU Digital Regulation Acts, and Competition Law, JECLAP 2022 adds an IP-informed antitrust perspective to mandatory data-sharing relations under the Data Act. Wolfgang Kerber, Governance of IoT Data: Why the Data Act will not fulfill its Objectives, GRUR International 2023, 120 provides a critical perspective on limitations of the Data Act. Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz /Max-Planck-Institut für Innovation und Wettbewerb (eds), Data Access, Consumer Interests and Public Welfare is not only open access (link below), but a hugely comprehensive resource. Frankly, everything about that sphere is exciting and it was a lot of fun to contribute to the ongoing debate. Ours is the first paper to assess the Data Act specifically from the perspective of the Horizontal Guidelines. We identify a tension between the Data Act and the Horizontal Guidelines: specifically the types of information exchange between competitors that the Horizontal Guidelines foster, i.e., information exchanges that promote dynamic competition between competitors, are not promoted by the Data Act. However, that is not a bug, it’s a feature. The Data Act provides incentives for data collection and systematization by effectively strengthening and formalizing property rights in data. Fostering dynamic competition is limited to vertical relations between firms. Curious to hear what everyone thinks and how companies will adapt to the new framework ahead of the Data Act rules starting to apply in September 2025.

Special issue in TechReg journal: Data, law and decolonisation. Edited by Siddharth Peter de Souza, Hellen Mukiri Smith, Linnet Taylor. Looks good! https://lnkd.in/ezCuBXJT #law #tech #politics #regulation #ai #data #decolonisation

One of the issues discussed at the recent Special General Meeting of the Law Society was the lack of a mandate for its membership in the Digital Property Market Steering Group (DPMSG). This is an important topic for all lawyers, particularly property lawyers. Government departments are obsessed with AI and 'Open data' which feeds the development of A1. Yet, for all its alleged benefits, open data also carries significant risks. Open data utilises massive public datasets to train 'AI models'. But this can unintentionally or otherwise, undermine privacy or perpetuate encoded biases. There are also significant risks of data being corrupted or disrupted by 'malicious actors', as was tragically highlighted in the Post Office Horizon Scandal. What if open data is simply wrong? The Law Society must become more agile and responsive to its members' needs. Lawyers qualified to practise law. This means questioning the veracity of the data they receive, and who is responsible if such data is wrong. The Land Registry is an active member of the DPMSG. However, it perpetuates the myth, that it is a world-class land registry and yet applications are still taking two years and more to be completed. The Law Society argues that to be 'At the table' it was compelled to be a member of the DPMSG. But this presupposes, that its members accepted the premise of the DPMSG. Most property lawyers do not. In a world where clients complain of malign interests 'drowning them in data' lawyers, with their commitment to ethically using asymmetric knowledge, the Law Society needs to reflect on the need for a 'reset' so that its members are front and centre of everything it does. #propertylawexcellence #ThePropertyLawyersActionGroup

#hotoffthepress EU Data Act and Fairness Test for Contractual Terms My article on "Unfair Contractual Terms under the EU Data Act" has been published in issue 2 of the European Review of Private Law (ERPL). Abstract: In January 2024, the EU Data Act (DA) came into force, which is a central building block of the EU Strategy for data. It contains special rules on control of unjust contractual terms. This article examines these provisions of the DA, explains their systematic relationship to other EU secondary law, in particular the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (UCTD), and looks at the impact on national contract law. The leitmotiv of the EU legislator to attach great importance to freedom of contract in commercial transactions is emphasized. This principle visibly influences the standard of clause control. In this respect, it is not only remarkable that there is no transparency control. The validity of the remaining terms of the contract can also remain unaffected by the invalidity of a clause. The resulting gap can be closed by supplementary interpretation of the contract in accordance with national law. Full text 👉 https://lnkd.in/eyWuWBbA Wolters Kluwer Institut für das Recht der Digitalisierung Philipps-Universität Marburg