The Legal 500

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has deprived the audio recording and movie industries of one of their main instruments against the sharing of illegal internet content – the possibility to impose an injunction against an internet service provider (ISP) that requires it to install a system to filter electronic communications, especially those involving the use of peer-to-peer software.

Demand has increased for crime prevention programmes to help companies estab-lish proper control mechanisms. Incentives to commit fraud or act unethically re-main high, and the risk of non-compliance with legislation has never been higher. The development and implementation of an international compliance programme must be the initial step to avoid liabilities. Understandably, multinational compa-nies are becoming more and more concerned about compliance because of the in-creasingly stringent legal requirements and rising efforts to indict individuals and companies.

The Hungarian Parliament has passed a new Act No. CXII of 2011 on data protection, which will enter into force in January 2012. The new Act retains the basic elements of the present Act, while providing extended rights for data subjects and new sanctions against infringers. It also introduces a new authority competent to replace the Office of the Commissioner for Data Protection.

Most people take photos at concerts or festivals. Many of them then upload their snap-shots to Facebook and other sites to share with friends and family.

By Wolfgang G. Tichy

1. What are the legal requirements to obtain a patent?
The requirements are for:

•  Novelty.
• Inventive step.
• Susceptibility to industrial applications
  

OVERVIEW OF MAIN IPRS
1. Please give a brief overview of the main IPRs in your jurisdiction,
including how they are protected (whether through
registration or otherwise). Consider:

•  Patents.
•  Trade marks.
•  Copyright.
•  Design rights.
•  Confidential information.
•  Any other main IPRs that apply in your jurisdiction
  

Being famous is not so bad, especially for trademarks, unless it leads to genericide.

With this year's beginning a substantial revision of the Austrian Data Protection Act (the "DPA") entered into force where the DPA was substantially revised for the first time since it became effective in the year of 2000.

This chapter examines the enigma of how a wellknown trademark can become a common name for a product, and how the holder of the trademark can prevent this transformation.