Insights

On February 27, 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) issued a ruling about the requirements on data controllers to respond to data access requests regarding an automated decision-making system. In particular, the CJEU interpreted the meaning (under Article 15(1)(h) GDPR) of the phrase “meaningful information about the logic involved” in automated decision-making. Importantly, the ruling also separately addressed how to balance data access rights with the protection of the controller’s trade secrets, when the protection of trade secrets is invoked under Article 15(4) as a reason not to disclose a copy of personal data in an access request.

On October 24, 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down its highly anticipated ruling in the Kwantum v. Vitra case (C-227/23). In short, the CJEU held that EU Member States must afford copyright protection for works of applied art (i.e., furniture, lighting, home appliances, etc.) that meet the originality-requirement, regardless of the country of origin of these works or the nationality of the author.

The Judgment of the Brussels Court of Appeal is the latest development in the saga in Belgium where a Belgian parallel importer, PI Pharma NV, imported a generic Sandoz product from the Netherlands, repackaged and rebranded them, and placed them on the Belgian market alleging they were a Novartis’ originator product.

At the beginning of the year, we brought to your attention that a number of important Belgian and EU legislative changes are likely to have an impact in 2024: there are new laws that have been adopted and proposals that are expected to firm up into law.

In an era where regulatory landscapes are rapidly evolving, companies with a footprint in the European Union must stay vigilant and adaptable. The EU has recently unveiled a comprehensive set of guidelines that impose fresh obligations on both EU and non-EU based companies operating within its borders. This client alert is the first in a series designed to decode the complexities of the new EU regulations and provide actionable insights for businesses to ensure full compliance[1]. Stay tuned as we unravel the details of these pivotal changes and guide you through the steps your business needs to take to align with the EU's heightened regulatory standards.

On February 17, 2024, The Digital Services Act (DSA) will become applicable, introducing a new regulatory framework for providers of intermediary services. The DSA will apply to those offering their services to users located in the EU, regardless of the providers' place of establishment. We have discussed the new obligations in our previous client alert, when the DSA was adopted. In this alert, we will focus on the notice and action mechanisms, the positions of the users, intermediaries and the general public.

A number of important Belgian and EU legislative changes are likely to have an impact in 2024. On the one hand, there are new laws that have been adopted and will start to bite, and, on the other, there are proposals that are expected to firm up into law.

On November 9, 2023, the European Parliament has adopted the final version of the Data Act, marking a significant milestone in the evolving landscape of digital regulation. The Data Act is part of the European Commission’s broader strategy to shape Europe’s digital future (see our earlier posts here and here).

Unitary Patents are being granted and the Unified Patent Court is up and running as of June 1, 2023.  Since the 1970’s, there have been attempts at establishing a unitary European patent that would cover multiple European countries and would be enforced by a single court system.  This type of system is in contrast to the system known since 1973 of granting European Patents by the European Patent Office (EPO) and validating the European Patent in designated European countries, wherein each validated patent is enforced in the national court associated with the validated patent.

While fashion lovers throughout the European Union will surely be familiar with the pattern, the General Court held that luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton failed to demonstrate that its trademark checkerboard ‘Damier Azur’ pattern, had acquired distinctiveness through use throughout the European Union.

 

On November 17, 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued four important decisions (here) relating to parallel imports of branded products within the internal market of the European Union (EU). This is a complex topic at the crossroads of free movement of goods and trademark enforcement in the EU.

The Belgian regulatory framework for medical devices is highly complex, and the already dense legal landscape was recently added to by the adoption of two new Belgian royal decrees: the Royal Decree of 25 September 2022 relating to performance studies involving in vitro diagnostic medical devices and the Royal Decree of 13 September 2022 amending and repealing various provisions regarding in vitro diagnostic medical devices.

On April 28, 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down a judgment that is expected to significantly improve the chance of patent owners being granted a preliminary injunction before national EU patent courts, and, most likely, also before the future divisions of the Unified Patent Court (UPC).

In a recently released ruling (of June 25th), the Belgian Supreme Court confirmed a decision of the Court of Appeal of Ghent relating to the possibility of copyright protection for lawyers’ work product created within the framework of their professional activity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only been a catalyst for innovation, it has also changed the way innovation occurs. Reference can be made to the multiple collective efforts to research and produce vaccines, develop diagnostics devices, protective materials, etc. Often the organizations and businesses involved in these efforts have offered their products and services, or shared their innovations, research data or other proprietary elements, at cost or even for free.

The case relates to settlements entered into by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) with three generic manufacturers. The generics had challenged a secondary patent relating held by GSK in relation to the active ingredient in its anti-depressant paroxetine. The original patent had expired in 1999 and the secondary patent, which covered production process and 4 polymorphs, was partially annulled by the UK courts. 

In November 2018, the European Patent Office (EPO) published a study aimed at providing a comprehensive picture of current trends and emerging leaders in technologies related to self-driving vehicles (SDV), based on patent applications ranging from 2011 to 2017. Below are some examples of the key findings from this study.