The Advocate General, Yves Bot, of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) last week delivered his opinion in the Maximillian Schrems v Data Protection Commissioner Case, C‑362/14 (the Opinion). The Opinion, which is advisory in nature, recommends that the Safe Harbour programme be invalidated and that the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (the DPC) be empowered to carry out a full investigation as to the adequacy of protection afforded to the personal data of Facebook’s EU users.
Last week saw the European Commission adopting a revised regime in respect of technology transfer agreements. The new agreements will enable companies to better licence the use of patents, know-how or software held by another company for the production of goods and services. The new Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) and accompanying Technology Transfer Guidelines (Guidelines) will enter into force on 1 May 2014.
The TTBER and Guidelines will create a safe harbour for licensing agreements seeking to strengthen incentives for research, innovation and stimulate competition.