The European Commission has announced that it plans to fine Google €2.95 billion for breaching EU anti-trust rules by favouring its own adtech services over competing providers of adtech services, advertisers and online publishers. The Commission has instructed Google to bring these “self-preferencing” practices to an end, and to implement measures to prevent inherent conflicts…
The First-Tier Tribunal recently issued its ruling in Thomas Elsbury v Information Commissioner & HMRC Neutral citation: [2025] UKFTT 00915 (GRC). The Tribunal was asked to consider a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) about the use of large language models (LLMs) by HMRC. Thomas Elsbury (E) specialises in R&D…
The European Commission is consulting on drafts of a revised Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) and revised Guidelines on application of Article 101 of the Treaty to technology transfer agreements. Technology transfer agreements are agreements by which one firm authorises another to use certain technology rights, such as patents, design rights or software copyrights…
Following last week’s consultations in response to the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 coming into force, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is now also consulting on guidance on distributed ledger technologies. Distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) such as blockchain, seek to store, synchronise and maintain digital records across a network of computing centres. Their uses…
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UK law 4chan says it won’t comply with the Online Safety Act 2023 Back in June, we reported that Ofcom had opened formal investigations into various companies under the Online Safety Act 2023, including the online discussion board 4chan. This month, it issued 4chan with “a provisional notice of contravention” for failing to comply with…
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has issued a call for evidence about how to introduce a Smart Data scheme in digital markets, using new powers under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. The Act establishes two relevant powers. The first concerns customer data, allowing regulations to require traders to securely provide, at…
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The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No 1) Regulations 2025 SI 2025/904 have been made. The Regulations bring into force specified provisions of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 on 20th August 2025. They are the first commencement regulations made under the Act. Certain provisions were brought into force automatically on Royal…
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On 23 January 2025 the Competition and Markets Authority launched two separate SMS investigations, one into Apple and another into Google, to assess their position in their respective mobile ecosystems. The CMA has now announced that it proposes to designate Apple and Google with “strategic market status” (SMS) under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers…
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UK law Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No. 6) Regulations 2025 made to repeal video sharing regime The Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No. 6) Regulations 2025 SI 2025/888 have been made. They are the sixth commencement regulations made under the Online Safety Act 2023. They bring into force section 210 of the 2023 Act,…
The IPO is consulting on potential measures to address challenges in the UK’s Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) ecosystem. A patent that protects technology which is essential to implementing a technical standard (such as 5G) is known as a Standard Essential Patent (SEP). However, there are well-known problems within the UK’s SEP ecosystem that may create…
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