On 29 June 2023, the Spanish Data Protection Authority (AEPD) circular on commercial phone calls (formally called “Circular 1/2023, de 26 de junio, sobre la aplicación del artículo 66.1.b) de la Ley 11/2022, de 28 de junio, General de Telecomunicaciones”) was published in the BOE (official state gazette).

On 4 October 2022, the Council of the European Union definitively approved the Digital Services Act, maintaining unchanged the content proposed by the European Parliament. On 5 July 2022, the European Parliament also approved the articles of the Digital Market Act still pending a final vote in the Council. The Digital Market Act and the Digital Services Act regulate the legal status of providers of intermediary services (e.g., online platforms such as marketplaces, search engines, social networks, hosting services, etc.) and thus also affect other actors (users and businesses of all sizes) interacting through their services.

With increased regulatory scrutiny and the emergence of employee activism, companies have experienced an elevated risk of trade secret disclosure from current or former employees acting as putative whistleblowers. In this episode, Aaron Goodman (Partner, Los Angeles) discussed key factors companies should consider in balancing their trade secret interests against the protections afforded to whistleblowers, with a focus on recent whistleblower laws across the globe.

In this session of our five-part HLS Supply Chain Series, we took a look at key IP issues in the supply chain; the issues arising from data protection, R&D, advertising and promotions; and the handling of trade secrets owned by third parties.