All publications by Thomas Caveng

President Obama has now signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“the Act”), which was passed by Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. Effective upon the President’s signature, and applicable to any misappropriation of trade secrets on or after the date of signing, the Act creates a new federal civil remedy for trade secret misappropriation. It adds another important tool for the protection of intellectual property rights, which are often the most important assets of a business.

We are pleased to announce the release of the updated and expanded second edition of the Global Guide to Data Breach Notifications.

Companies are relieved that there will now be a new Safe Harbor for cross-border transfer of personal data from Europe to the US.

This announcement will provide a degree of certainty going forward, in particular after the upheaval which the Schrems case decision of the European Court of Justice last year produced, striking down the then existing Safe Harbor framework. Businesses should, however, also expect a more rigorous process by the US Department of Commerce to qualify for the “new” Safe Harbor certification and by the FTC to enforce it.

A conference-discussion on the situation in Greece was held on January 22, 2015 in the premises of Le Prisme, an association of business leaders of the Lyon area.

On January 1, 2016, a National Authority for Technological Innovation (“NATI”) was established following a major revision of the Israeli R&D Law. NATI, a statutory corporation (not part of any government office), will now replace many of the functions of the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Economy (“OCS”) that for more than 30 years was in charge of supporting industrial R&D in Israel.

In line with Singapore’s reputation as a preferred arbitration destination, Singapore has recently amended its laws to bring its arbitration regime in line with the world’s best practices. Among the changes made are clarifications on the powers of an emergency arbitrator and the application of foreign limitation periods to claims governed by foreign law.