Insights

In a June 30, 2023 decision by the Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento, the Court issued a ruling delaying agency enforcement of final regulations under the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) until March 2024. Calfornia Chamber of Commerce v. California Privacy Protection Act, Case No. 34-2023-80004106-CU-WM-GDS (Sacramento Superior Court, June 30, 2023).

On March 15, the Iowa House passed Senate File 262 (SF 262), a comprehensive state privacy law bill. If enacted, SF 262 would be the sixth state level privacy legislation, following California, Virginia, Colorado, Utah, and Connecticut, and it would go into effect on January 1, 2025.

On February 28, 2023, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) adopted its Opinion 5/2023 (the “Opinion”) on the draft adequacy decision of the European Commission regarding the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (“DPF”). The DPF aims to ensure that personal data transferred from the European Union to the U.S. receives an adequate level of protection. The framework is based on the principles of transparency, accountability, and oversight, and it includes safeguards to protect the data privacy rights of individuals.

Class action litigation remained strong in 2024, on pace to match the past two years. Last year expanded the trend of class action litigation driven by technology, regulatory changes, and consumer expectations. Class action litigation based on privacy and data security breaches increased last year—including recent high-profile cases and significant settlements. Similarly, consumer rights and product liability cases have continued to increase and to drive large settlements due to consumer awareness of their rights and amendments to consumer protection laws. These developments and increasing trends in class action litigation provide numerous opportunities for litigation in many sectors.

Intellectual property has been in the spotlight this past year, from a landmark Copyright Fair Use case in the U.S. Supreme Court, to the more than 100 AI-related lawsuits working their way through the legal system. Despite the publicity surrounding intellectual property, patent litigation filings were down roughly 25 percent in 2023, due in part to a large decline in IP Edge filings, which normally account for hundreds of cases each year. The number of new trademark cases stayed about the same while copyright filings increased slightly.