Laurence Eastham reviews the blogs that might help you keep informed, sharpen up your opinions or just help fill the slack working days which so many IT lawyers complain about….
The Rise of Machinima
Computer games based on films are nothing new. However, a new movement has given an interesting twist to this process. Machinima is a burgeoning new film form where films are made using 3D real-time technology. To quote the machinima Academy of Arts and Sciences,[1] machinima is: ‘the convergence of filmmaking, animation and game development….
SCL Response to Data Sharing Consultation
In December 2007, the Data Sharing Review Secretariat sought responses to a range of questions on the steps that might be taken to improve the workings of the Data Protection Act 1998 with a particular focus on data sharing. SCL’s Privacy and Data Protection Interest Group has worked on a meaningful response, with Andrew Sharpe…
Satyam v Upaid: A Short and Avoidable Case
The case of Satyam Computer Services Ltd v Upaid Systems Ltd [2008] EWHC 31 (Comm) is interesting because of implications it might have for companies in the booming Indian IT-outsourcing sector, specifically relating to intellectual property. This was not an outright IP dispute, eg on the patentability of a product or the ownership of a…
UK-IPO Change of Practice on Computer Programs
UK-IPO issued a new Practice Note on 7 February, taking account of the judgment in Astron Clinica & Ors v The Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks [2008] EWHC 85 (Pat). The UK-IPO press release states: In a judgment in November 2006 in the cases of Aerotel Ltd v Telco Holdings Ltd (and…
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Data Protection and CCTV
The new CCTV Code of Practice makes it clear that the data protection legislation applies to CCTV in many cases. It describes the use of sound recording as ‘highly intrusive’ and warns organisations that its use would only ever be justified in highly exceptional circumstances. The Code outlines the key issues which organisations and businesses…
LexisNexis Acquires Axxia
LexisNexis has announced the acquisition of Axxia, which it describes as ‘a leading provider of back-office and integrated solutions in the mid-law segment in the UK’. The news was something of a surprise to the legal technology community but, apparently discussions were taking place for six or seven months before the deal was completed. The…
LexisNexis Acquires Axxia: Updated
LexisNexis has announced the acquisition of Axxia, which it describes as ‘a leading provider of back-office and integrated solutions in the mid-law segment in the UK’. The news was something of a surprise to the legal technology community but, apparently discussions have been taking place ‘for a short while’. The price paid has not been…
Astron Clinica: Computer Program Product Claims in UK Patents
Legal Background Section 1(2) of the UK Patents Act 1977, made to correspond to Article 52(2) and (3) of the European Patent Convention (EPC),[1] excludes computer programs from being considered as being patentable inventions, but only to the extent that the patent relates to a computer program ‘as such’. This provision, and in particular how…
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Looking After Your Database Rights
1. What is Protected Database rights are protectable under the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations (SI 1997 No 3032). A database is defined as a collection of independent works, data or other materials which are arranged in a systematic or methodical way and are individually accessible by electronic or other means. A property right (‘database…