AI - Licensing
DATE OF UPDATE: 27 June 2025
IMPLEMENTATION/DEADLINE DATE: The questionnaire is to be addressed by stakeholders by October 2025.
CURRENT STATUS
The European Council has published a Presidency policy questionnaire regarding lessons learned on Article 15 of Directive (EU) 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market (CDSM Directive) and on fostering a well-functioning framework for licensing in the age of AI.
WHY IS THIS APPLICABLE TO CLIENTS?
The questionnaire addresses finding a balance and a copyright framework that ensures proper remuneration for creators and the creative industries, while allowing AI developers of all sizes to have competitive access to high-quality data.
Judgment - Case T-239/23 - Nero Champagne
DATE OF UPDATE: 25 June 2025
CURRENT STATUS
Protected designation of origin (PDO): In Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne et - INAO v EUIPO – Nero Lifestyle, the General Court of the European Union considered a trademark containing the PDO “Champagne” in the context of a rebuttable presumption that a trademark containing a PDO and registered solely in respect of products complying with the specification of that PDO does not unfairly exploit the reputation of that PDO.
WHY IS THIS APPLICABLE TO CLIENTS?
This decision will be of interest to manufacturers of goods or services with the protection of a PDO and third parties seeking to register trademarks containing such a PDO.
Consumer Complaints – Deceptive Patterns
CURRENT STATUS
BEUC, and 25 members from 21 countries, filed a complaint with the European Commission and European consumer protection authorities against Shein for its use of deceptive techniques.
WHY IS THIS APPLICABLE TO CLIENTS?
Deceptive techniques continue to raise concerns at EU level and will be a focus of the proposed Digital Fairness Act (as discussed in our article).
Consumer Protection – Enforcement - Shein
DATE OF UPDATE: 26 May 2025
CURRENT STATUS
The Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer authorities and the European Commission notified Shein of several practices on its platform that infringe EU consumer law. The online marketplace and e-retailer must respond within one month to the CPC Network's findings and propose commitments on how they will address the identified consumer law issues.
WHY IS THIS APPLICABLE TO CLIENTS?
The consumer law obligations that the CPC Network is invoking can be found in the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, the Consumer Rights Directive, the Price Indication Directive, and the e-Commerce Directive, which have been transposed into Irish law.
Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement
DATE OF UPDATE: 22 May 2025
CURRENT STATUS
The Commission published a Staff Working Document ‘Report on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in third countries’.
The main objective of the Report is to identify third countries in which the state of IPR protection and enforcement gives rise to the greatest level of concern for the EU. It establishes an updated list of so-called “priority countries”, which are those where deficiencies are deemed to cause the greatest economic harm to EU interests.
WHY IS THIS APPLICABLE TO CLIENTS?
Among other things, the report aims to inform rightholders about potential risks to their IPR when engaging in business activities in certain third countries and thus to allow them to design business strategies and operations to protect the value of their intangibles.
Consumer Agenda 2025-2030
DATE OF UPDATE: 19 May 2025
IMPLEMENTATION/DEADLINE DATE: The feedback period closes on 11 August 2025.
CURRENT STATUS
The Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, has been tasked to present a Consumer Agenda 2025-2030. This should include an action plan on consumers in the Single Market, to ensure consumers do not face unfair discrimination, keep benefits when crossing borders and are protected when buying goods or services.
A consultation has been launched to gather feedback and input from stakeholders to inform the development of the priority areas and actions.
WHY IS THIS APPLICABLE TO CLIENTS?
The action plan aims to target several gaps in consumer legislation and will be of interest to organisations supplying products and services to consumers, to include online games or other non-intermediated content.
Consumer Law – Guidance from the CCPC
DATE OF UPDATE: 3 April 2025
CURRENT STATUS
The CCPC has launched a new set of guidelines on what traders must do to uphold consumer rights when selling goods and services, following the introduction of new rules in the Consumer Rights Act 2022.
WHY IS THIS APPLICABLE TO CLIENTS?
The Consumer Rights Act 2022 has broad application to the sale of goods and services, including the sale of digital services online to consumers.
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