The English Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision and ruled that an exclusion clause that excluded liability for loss of profits, revenues and savings did not exclude wasted expenditure (Soteria Insurance Limited (formerly CIS General Insurance Limited) v IBM United Kingdom Limited [2022] EWCA Civ 440).

After a somewhat surprising victory in the Federal Court last year (about which we wrote in our article ‘Rise of the Machines’), the hopes that an artificial intelligence machine, nicknamed DABUS, could be named as the inventor on a patent application have now been dashed by the Full Court. In short, the Full Court upheld an appeal by the Commissioner, ultimately finding that Dr Thaler’s patent application had indeed lapsed for failure to name an ‘inventor’ as required by the relevant regulations.

On 7 March 2022 a decree of the Russian government took effect, announcing that compensation need not be paid for the unauthorised use of Russian patents, utility models and designs to rights holders connected with foreign countries committing “unfriendly acts” against Russian legal entities and individuals.

In the coming years, data collected by vehicles will be subject to a new EU regulatory regime consisting of horizontal rules applicable across many industries and vertical rules designed specifically for the automotive sector.

The latest instalment in the Tulip Trading v Bitcoin Association litigation has been greeted with relief by many in the blockchain community, after the High Court threw out a claim that bitcoin developers (including several bitcoin forks) owed a duty of care or a fiduciary duty to an alleged owner of bitcoin.

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are capable of creating a wide range of artistic, musical, and literary works and inventions without human involvement. These AI creations raise challenges to intellectual property (IP) frameworks.

The UK Government has added two new duties to the proposed Online Safety Bill (the Bill) that are aimed at protecting people against anonymous online abuse.

On 23 February 2022 the EU Commission published its long-awaited Data Act, the last major building block of the Commission’s February 2020 Data Strategy.

Norton Rose Fulbright lawyers Roger Kuan and Jason Novak contributed several chapters to Digital Health 2022 International Comparative Legal Guide, published by GLG, which is a leading global platform for legal reference, analysis and news.

The Metaverse has moved beyond science fiction movies like Ready Player One to become an important reality. Fortune magazine recently said that the Metaverse might just be the most important tech trend since the iPhone.