UK law Court of Appeal reverses decision about Optis mobile phone patents In Optis Cellular Technology LLC and other v Apple Retail UK Limited and others [2023] EWCA Civ 438, a majority of the Court of Appeal have reversed the Patent Court’s decision. This was the third technical trial in the mobile phone standard essential…
MEP committees adopt draft negotiating mandate for AI Act
The European Parliament Internal Market Committee and the Civil Liberties Committee have adopted a draft negotiating mandate on the AI Act. MEPs say that they aim to ensure that AI systems are overseen by people, are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory, and environmental friendly. They also want to have a uniform definition for AI designed to…
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BOOK REVIEW: Tomorrow’s Lawyers
This book (now in its third edition) and its author probably do not need introduction to the readers of Computers & Law. Richard Susskind has been a pioneer in the use of information and communications technology for legal practice and the courts for decades and indeed is President of the Society for Computers and Law….
CJEU rules that mere infringement of the GDPR does not give rise to a right to compensation
The Court of Justice of the EU has issued its ruling in Case C-300/21 |Österreichische Post. From 2017, Österreichische Post collected information about the political affinities of the Austrian population. Using an algorithm, it defined “target group addresses”, using socio-demographic criteria. Österreichische Post used the data to establish that certain individuals had a high degree of affinity with a…
Navigating the Legal Landscape of Self Driving and Electric Vehicles
There have been a few notable examples of far-sighted individuals accurately predicting dramatic technological innovations that have changed the world. Arthur C Clarke accurately predicted the internet as far back as 1974, Douglas Adams predicted Alexa (“the book” in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). Some readers may remember KITT the robotic sports car with…
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European Commission proposes Regulation on essential standard patents
The European Commission has proposed Regulations on standard essential patents, compulsory licensing of patents in crisis situations, and amendments to the laws about supplementary protection certificates. These aim to create a more transparent, effective and futureproof intellectual property rights framework. The Commission says that intangible assets like brands, designs, patents and data are increasingly important…
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This Week’s Techlaw News Round-Up
UK law CMA refused permission to appeal CAT judgment regarding mobile browsers and cloud gaming The Competition Appeals Tribunal has refused the CMA permission to appeal against its ruling in Apple and others v CMA [2023] CAT 21. The CAT had quashed the CMA’s decision to make a market investigation reference into the supply of…
CMA carries out initial review of AI Foundation Models
SCL members will be aware that foundation models are a type of AI technology that are trained on vast amounts of data that can be adapted to a wide range of tasks and operations. Foundation models have many possible applications including chatbots, writing assistant and code writing, and generation of images for artistic or commercial…
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SCL AI for Schools Programme
An SCL outreach initiative aimed at helping underprivileged 6th form students consider a career in the tech law sector The SCL AI for Schools Programme is an outreach initiative aimed at helping underprivileged 6th form students, who may never have heard of tech law, consider a career in the sector. It has been conceived by…
The new UK Data Protection Bill: Practical effects and prognosis
On 8 March 2023, the UK government introduced the Data Protection and Digital Information (No 2) Bill. The Bill (which passed its second reading in the House of Commons on 17 April) is an amended version of the bill that was originally introduced in July 2022. Hailed by the Government as ‘modern laws for a…
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