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Traveling
Fellowship Award: The Opportunity of a Lifetime
The
International Visiting Associate Program (IVAP) provides
important business benefits to existing member law firms and
their associate lawyers, offering a unique cross-cultural
experience for IT and telecom lawyers. The IVAP
Committee presents an annual Traveling Fellowship Award,
sending associates to law firms worldwide for 4 to 10 weeks
to gain experience professionally and socially as well as
network with other practitioners.
ITechLaw's 2009
Traveling Fellowship Award Winner from the 5th International
Asian Conference in Gurgaon, Talha Salaria, has been
travelling to the following law firms: Setterwalls in
Göteberg, Sweden, CMS Hasche Sigle in Stuttgart, Germany,
Dr. Widmer & Partners in Bern, Switzerland, Lovells in
Münich, Germany, Gassauer Fleissner in Vienna, Austria and
she is currently at her final destination at Matheson Ormsby
Prentice in Dublin, Ireland.
Below are three excerpts from Talha's reports:
1.
Setterwalls in Sweden
"I reviewed the EU Directive on Point of Single Contact and
provided my views on issues raised, which I understand is a
hot topic of debate in the EU. I also conducted research on
EU patent laws from the perspective of the Paris Convention,
the PCT and the EPC."
2. CMS Hasche Sigle in Stuttgart
"I participated in a matter regarding software development
documentation between a Slovenian company and a German
company. It was very interesting to observe the behavior and
style of negotiations between parties from different
jurisdictions."
3. Dr. Widmer & Partners in Bern
"I had the opportunity to attend a session of the
parliament. I could draw comparisons between the
parliamentary sessions held in India and those held in
Switzerland and was able to share and exchange information
with my lawyer colleague."
Further reports on Talha's visits at Lovells, Gassauer
Fleissner and Matheson Ormsby Prentice will be included in
the August issue of eNews.
CommitteeWatch: I-WIN and IP Law
In this
segment we provide you with updates on our
broad spectrum of committees including substantive
law committees (e-commerce, data protection, intellectual
property and outsourcing), publications, women's
international network, membership
development, education and more.
For a full list
of ITechLaw's committees, visit the ITechLaw
website. You may also log in to the
Member Center and opt-in to committees that interest
you.
This month CommitteeWatch puts the spotlight on the ITechLaw
Women's International Network (I-WIN), chaired by
Board Member Francoise Gilbert and the IP Law Committee
chaired by Board Member Susan Barty.
I-WIN is pleased to note that approximately 12 out of
29 new members reported in the previous month were women.
One of I-WIN's primary goals is to increase representation
of women in ITechLaw. The percentage of women members has
steadily increased since I-WIN's launch in 2007. I-WIN
encourages you to spread the word about this important
committee. If you or your colleagues would like to join or
receive more information, please contact Francoise Gilbert
at
fgilbert@itlawgroup.com.
The IP Law
Committee presents a
link for papers
on the patentability of
computer programs submitted to the
Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office.
The paper, submitted on behalf of the Committee, is also accessible on the ITechLaw website
IP Committee page. Additionally, following a successful discussion on
keywords and trademark infringement that took place at the
ITechLaw Annual Conference in May 2009, the IP Law Committee
welcomes comments and suggestions for topics to discuss at
the upcoming European Conference in Brussels in November
2009. Contact
Susan Barty for more information.
The eNews
Sampler: Brief Monthly Updates
In addition to
ITechLaw's quarterly online law journal for members, the
eBulletin
(requires log in), ITechLaw often provides 1-2 short articles in
the eNews each month. eNews articles not only cover short legal
updates but also give members an opportunity to share their
unique professional experiences as they relate to ITechLaw.
ITechLaw
encourages members to contribute to its
publications. For more information or to submit your
articles, please
contact us. Submissions are subject to editorial
discretion. Articles not used in eNews may be used in the
eBulletin and vice versa.
The European
Commission will co-finance a project driven by Austria,
France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland
helping public administrations to improve online services
for the service sector. By the end of 2009, each EU Member
State will have established points of single contact where
companies can complete administrative procedures
electronically. While it will allow for example a Belgian
service provider to complete all the necessary formalities
to open a cafe in the Netherlands online, the pilot project
will work on further enhancing the quality of electronic
procedures. More than EUR 14 million will be invested over
three years into the pilot project, half of which will come
from the EU's Competitiveness and Innovation Programme.
The Irish
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has published
the Communications (Retention of Data) Bill 2009.
As drafted, the Bill will require "service providers"
(persons engaged in the provision of a publicly available
electronic communications services or a public
communications network by means of a fixed line or mobile
telephones or the Internet) to retain specified data for
periods of between 2 years in the case of data relating to
fixed network telephony and mobile data, reduced from 3
years which is the current requirement under Part 7 of the
Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005, and 1 year
in the case of data relating to internet access, internet
email and internet telephony.
The data must disclosed on the request of:
1. A member of the Garda Síochána (Irish police) not below
the rank of Chief Superintendent, where that person is
satisfied that the data are required for:
(a) The prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution
of a "serious offence" (one that is punishable by a term of
imprisonment of 5 years or more or an offence which is
specifically identified in the schedule);
(b) The safeguarding of the security of the State;
(c) The saving of human life.
2. An officer of the Permanent Defense Force not below the
rank of Colonel, where that officer is satisfied that the
data are required for the purpose of safeguarding the
security of the State.
3. An officer of the Revenue Commissioners (not below the
rank of Principal Officer) where that officer is satisfied
that the data are required for the prevention, detection,
investigation or prosecution of a "revenue offence" (an
offence under specified provisions of Irish Customs, Taxes
or Finance Act legislation).
The Bill makes it clear that its provisions do not apply to
the content of communications transmitted by means of fixed
network telephony, mobile telephony, internet access,
internet email or internet telephony.
The Bill will also repeal Ireland's pre-existing data retention
legislation (Part 7 of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist
Offences) Act 2005) and will also implement Directive
2006/24/EC on the retention of data generated or processed
by or in connection with the provision of publicly available
electronic communications services or of public
communications networks.
News About ITechLaw Members
►
Click here to submit your member news
today!
►
Franklin Pierce
Law Center in conjunction with University of Limerick
organizes on July 24-25, 2009 in Limerick, Ireland, a CLE
course for experienced corporate counsel and outside
practitioners on "Advertising Law in the United States and
Europe: The Challenges Ahead." ITechLaw Board Member
Felix Hofer was invited to join a panel discussing
"Green Marketing Claims."
►
ITechLaw
Advisory Board Member Esther Nunes' law firm, Pinheiro
Neto Advogados, has been named "Brazil’s Law Firm of the
Year 2009." This is the fourth consecutive time the firm has
been recognized in this way, having won the inaugural award
in 2006.
►
ITechLaw
Board Member Rajiv Patel will serve as Program Chair for
PLI's course of Advanced Patent Prosecution. The program in
August 17 and 18 in San Francisco, CA. More information can
be found
here.
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Dr.
Ursula Widmer, President of ITechLaw, was invited by the
German davit (www.davit.de), the IT- and Telecom Lawyers
working group, with 650 members, within the German Bar
Association for the 10th
anniversary of the davit working group. Pictured to the
right: Dr. Ursula Widmer, President ITechLaw and Dr. Astrid
Auer-Reinsdorff, Chairperson of the davit.de |
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Important
Reminder: Member Renewals Due
►
Avoid Membership Expiration
Log in to the
Member Center and click on
"Renew
Membership" to renew now and enjoy another year of ITechLaw
member benefits, such as our networking opportunities,
publications and conferences.
►
Need Help?
Contact ITechLaw for your log-in details or
with any questions.
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President's Column,
by Ursula Widmer |
Dear ITechLaw
Members and Colleagues,
Many of you have already experienced the work taking place
within our Committees. You may have visited the website and
have seen our Committees, but have not yet worked closely
with one. So let me highlight the work of a few of our
Committees to show what benefits you can receive from
getting involved.
The Local Representative Committee is devoted to
building a closer working relationship with ITechLaw lawyers
on a regional level (Europe, United States and Canada,
India, China and Taiwan, Latin America), through activities
such as cooperation on legal projects or working sessions
and seminars of the LR committees. The European LR Committee
will be holding it European meeting on March 20, 2010 in
Rome.
I-WIN (ITechLaw Women’s International Network)
Committee gives ITechLaw women members an opportunity to
interact and network. This Committee meets regularly at the
three ITechLaw International Conferences (eg. in Brussels in
November). In between the conferences, the members use the
I-WIN list serv in order to connect, get answers to their
questions, such as legal advise or other important business
information. So a member, as an example, can get an
international overview on a topic within a few hours or
maximum days, which is of great value to the legal community
and its clients.
The Education Committee will hold their Latin
American CyberSpaceCamp in Brazil this year. These Camps
will be held in Sao Paulo on September 24-25 and in Rio de
Janeiro on September 28-29.
Our four Substantive Law Committees were established
at the ITechLaw Conference in Chicago in April 2007 and are
devoted to the areas of law most central to ITechLaw’s
members: Data Protection, E-Commerce, Outsourcing and
Intellectual Property. If you have a specific interest in
these areas, you might want to join your peers and actively
contribute to various Committee projects, such as the
multi-jurisdictional project on "e-Payments and Fraud
Prevention" currently being undertaken by the E-Commerce
Committee.
All of you regularly receive the eNews and eBulletin, and
the Publications Committee would be happy to receive your
articles. All submissions are subject to editorial
discretion and are accepted on a rolling basis.
Stay tuned to the eNews and the CommitteeWatch section to
learn about a different Committee and their activities each
month. Many of the Committees publications will be posted on
ITechLaw’s new website, to be launched at the end of July.
I kindly invite you to contact me whenever you would like to
get involved or the Committee Chairs, who can be found on
the website, along with a full list of our
Committees.
With my best regards,
Ursula Widmer
ITechLaw President
president@itechlaw.org
Ursula.widmer@widmerpartners-lawyers.ch
ITechLaw 2009
Annual European Conference:
►
Where:
Brussels, Belgium
►
When:
5-6 November, 2009
ITechLaw is
pleased to announce its annual European Conference, to take
place is Brussels, Belgium at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel.
Look for a formal
conference site launch complete with program and
registration information in the August issue of eNews.
Visit the ITechLaw
conference calendar for the
most recent information on all of ITechLaw's events.
Seattle
Conference Attendees: Download
Your Conference Materials Online
Remember,
attendees of ITechLaw conferences enjoy easy online access
to conference materials. This includes papers presented and
PowerPoint presentations corresponding to each topic on the conference
schedules. This is the perfect way to update your knowledge.
To access your
materials, click here and
log in using your ITechLaw
membership information.
Contact us
with any questions about logging in.
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