Recent Articles

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  05/06/2024

  Czech Republic

  Class actions to be finally approved in the Czech Republic

  The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic has approved the draft law on class actions, which will allow consumers and small businesses to jointly pursue their claims against businesses. The draft is now with the President of the Czech Republic and his signature is expected after his return from Normandy (i.e. on Friday 7 June or early next week).It is not yet certain when the Act will come into force, but it seems that 1 July 2024 could be manageable. As already informed in our earlier Law-Now article (see Czech Republic drafts law on class actions, the Czech Republic was obliged to implement...

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  04/06/2024

  Poland

  Poland’s Advertising Council amends Code of ethics to include advertising for food supplements

  PL

  In May 2024, the Union of Associations Advertising Council (Advertising Council), an NGO involved in corporate responsibility in advertising, developed a comprehensive self-regulation on ethical advertising of food supplements, which is now part of the Code of Ethics for Advertising, a set of rules defining what is acceptable and what is unethical in advertising. The Code of Ethics for Advertising is to be followed by entrepreneurs, especially advertisers and other entities engaged in advertising activities in Poland.Entities who advertise food supplements have so far relied on two sets of rules...

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  04/06/2024

  China

  China’s market regulator announces top ten IP infringements of 2023

  On 10 May 2024, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced the top ten typical cases of intellectual property (IP) enforcement for 2023, which encompassed a range of illegal activities, including the production and sale of counterfeit branded automobile glass, the illicit manufacture and sale of fake cosmetics, the sale of tea infringing upon the “中茶” tea brand registered trademark, the infringement of “DENSO” and “TOYOTA” trademarks, the sale of goods bearing the counterfeit "FION" trademark, and the sale of counterfeit...

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  04/06/2024

  Switzerland

  Upcoming new Law on the Protection of Youth in Films and Video Games in Switzerland

  1. IntroductionIn September 2022, the Federal Act on the Protection of Minors in the Area of Films and Video Games (JSFVG) was passed. In view of recent technological advances, such as online streaming and digital distribution platforms, and in connection with these respective evolving consumption patterns, this law aims to improve the protection of minors from potentially harmful content in films and video games, such as explicit violence, sexual content and intimidating scenes, which could negatively influence their development. Following the law's passage, the consultation period for the accompanying...

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  03/06/2024

  United Kingdom

  Ancillary Activities Exemption – a change in approach for commodity derivatives and emission allowances firms

  On 29 May 2024, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Commodity Derivatives and Emission Allowances) (Amendment) Order 2024 (SI 2024/719) (the “2024 Order”) was published alongside an explanatory memorandum. The 2024 Order omits prospective amendments to the UK regulated activities perimeter, with the effect that the planned changes to the ancillary activities regime for firms trading commodity derivatives or emission allowances have been indefinitely delayed. This followed significant concerns from industry that moving to a qualitative approach to determining whether firms require...

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  03/06/2024

  Belgium

  The Belgian Competition Authority accepts Telenet’s commitments relating to the broadcasting rights for cyclo-cross races

  FR

  In 2015, Telenet, Belgium’s largest television cable provider, and the V.Z.W. Verenigde veldritorganisatoren (V.V.) and the Union Cycliste Internationale (U.C.I.), both owners of cyclo-cross races broadcasting rights, concluded an exclusive agreement on broadcasting rights for, respectively, the Superprestige and the UCI World Cup cyclo-cross races for a duration of five years.Following a complaint by Proximus, in November 2015 the Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority imposed interim measures on Telenet and the V.V., confirming a prima facie infringement of competition...

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