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The Irish Government published its Autumn Legislative Programme on 26 September and the eagerly awaited Digital Services Bill (the DSB) is included as one of the 27 bills to be prioritised for publication this session. This is somewhat unsurprising given that the DSB was previously listed in the Government’s Summer Legislative Programme as a bill to prioritise. However, there is one interesting contrast between the descriptions of the DSB provided in the Government’s Summer and Autumn Programmes.

The Autumn Programme describes the purpose of the DSB as:

“To implement Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 on a Single Market for Digital Services

Continue Reading Government’s Legislative Programme indicates there may be a role for CCPC in regulating aspects of the DSA

1 June 2023 marks a significant step forward for patent protection and enforcement in Europe with the commencement of a new unified European patent system comprising:

  1. A Unitary Patent, providing uniform protection and equal effect across all participating Member States on a one-stop-shop basis.
  1. A Unified Patent Court (UPC), offering a single, specialised patent court common to all participating Member States.

We previously reported (in 2021 and 2022) on the steps taken towards the establishment of the Unitary Patent and UPC, and the legislative hurdles that needed to be overcome for their operation to commence.

Overview of

Continue Reading A Significant Step Forward: The Unitary Patent System and Unified Patent Court Commence Operation in Participating Member States