Patent Court considers Panasonic interim licence in FRAND case In Lenovo Group Ltd and others v Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and another [2024] EWHC 2941 (Pat), the Patents Court refused Lenovo’s application for a declaration that a willing licensor and a willing licensee would agree to an interim cross-licence of standard essential patents (SEPs) with Ericsson…
The Competition and Markets Authority’s independent inquiry group has carried out an in-depth assessment of the mobile browser markets and has provisionally concluded that they are not working well for UK businesses and millions of phone users. Most of the concerns that the group has identified relate to Apple’s policies that determine how mobile browsers…
The Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee has launched an inquiry into social media, misinformation and algorithms. The inquiry follows the anti-immigration demonstrations and riots which took place across the UK earlier this year. Some targeted mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers, driven in part by false claims that spread on social media platforms relating…
UK law Online Safety Act 2023 (Priority Offences) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 made The Online Safety Act 2023 (Priority Offences) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/1188) have been made. They make amendments to the priority offences set out in Schedule 7 to the Online Safety Act 2023 and come into force on 10 December 2024. Criminal offences…
UK law Ofcom publishes letter to online service providers on generative AI and chatbots Ofcom has published an open letter to online service providers in the UK about how the Online Safety Act 2023 applies to generative AI and chatbots. Websites or apps which use a generative AI chatbot that enables users to share text,…
Following investigation, the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer authorities (led by those in Belgium, Germany and Ireland) and the European Commission have notified Apple about several potentially prohibited geo-blocking practices that the CPC Network has identified on certain Apple Media Services, including App Store, Apple Arcade, Music, iTunes Store, Books and Podcasts….
UK law CMA consults on draft guidance for the markets regime in the Enterprise Act 2002 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is consulting on its draft new guidance for the markets regime in the Enterprise Act 2002, as amended by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The consultation ends on 3 December…
The European Commission has published the findings of the Digital Fairness Fitness Check, which assessed if current EU consumer protection laws are fit for purpose to ensure a high level of protection in the digital environment. The Fitness Check covered three core Directives: the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, the Consumer Rights Directive, and the Unfair…
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Ofcom has published an update on its progress to bring the Online Safety Act 2023 into effect. The Act means that companies that operate a wide range of online services are legally responsible for keeping people, especially children, safe online. Online platforms and services will soon have new duties to protect UK users by assessing…
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UK law CMA launches court action against Emma Sleep to protect UK consumers Back in 2022, the CMA opened an investigation into Emma Sleep over concerns that some of its online sales practices, such as discounts and urgency claims, including countdown timers and high demand prompts, may mislead consumers. The CMA called on Emma Sleep…