Newsletter n°5 (May 2024)
✨ ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ✨
➡️ Final adoption of the AI Act
On May 21, 2024, the EU Council officially adopted the AI Act. This regulation aims to ensure that AI is used ethically, safely and transparently, protecting citizens’ fundamental rights.
Main objectives:
• Regulate high-risk AI systems.
• Prohibit certain unacceptable AI systems.
• Promote innovation while ensuring compliance.
Companies, get ready by :
• Identifying and assessing your current AI systems.
• Implementing compliance measures defined in the action plan.
• Raising your teams’ awareness of new obligations and the use of this new technology.
FIRSH tip: Firsh recently helped a company specializing in facial biometrics verify its compliance with the AI Act. Contact us to benefit from our expertise in this field.
✨ PERSONAL DATA ✨
➡️ Entry into force of the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Regulation
Amending a 2014 regulation, the European Digital Identity Regulation came into force on May 20, 2024.
It sets out the principles of a European digital identity.
This regulation offers European citizens a secure, standardized solution for electronic means of identification used throughout the EU. It facilitates citizens’ cross-border access to online sites within the EU, while limiting the transmission of personal data to third parties.
The text requires Member States to develop a mobile application enabling European citizens to store and use their identity-related data in the form of a digital identity wallet.
In particular, this wallet will enable users to:
• Regain control of their data management via a secure system
• Dematerialize certain documents (ID, driving license, diplomas, health data, etc.) and sign electronically.
Use of the e-wallet and e-signature will be free of charge for individuals for non-business use.
✨ INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ✨
➡️ The “Olympic Games trademark”: a special protection regime
Aware of the exceptional socio-economic and symbolic value of Olympic signs, the French legislature has stepped in to ensure their enhanced protection by conferring on them the status – unique in French law – of “legal trademark”.
Under article L. 141-5 of the French Sports Code, the French National Olympic and Sports Committee is the owner of the national Olympic emblems. It is also the depositary of: the emblems, flag, motto and Olympic symbol, Olympic anthem, logo, mascot, the term “Olympic Games”, the use of “city + year” denominations corresponding to Olympic Games vintages, and so on.
This is confirmed by case law, which punishes the unauthorized use of the French term “olympique”, including its translation into English as “olympics”, or the acronym “JO”.
Under the terms of this article, Olympic signs benefit from an ad hoc intellectual property regime that dispenses with the need for trademark registration and renewal, and protects against the risk of opposition, nullity or revocation, since neither the availability, distinctiveness nor use of Olympic trademarks can be contested.
There are only two exceptions to this absolute protection:
• The CNOSF’s authorisation to use the Olympic trademarks under contractually defined conditions and,
• The freedom of the press to use them in information articles intended for the public.
In addition, it should be noted that misuse of Olympic properties may also give rise to civil liability under ordinary law (art. 1240 of the French Civil Code), contractual liability, counterfeiting law or even consumer law.
FIRSH tip: companies are strongly advised to obtain the prior opinion of an intellectual property expert before proceeding with the use of a sign similar to a well-known brand or trademark, such as the national and Olympic emblems.
TGI Paris, 2 mai 2019, n°17/12759 (terme « olympique ») ; TGI Paris, 27 juin 2014, n° 12/12960 (traduction en anglais « olympics ») ; TGI Paris, 19 nov. 2015, n° 14/06525 (acronyme « JO »).
✨ COMPLIANCE ✨
➡️ EU Ecodesign Regulation: making sustainable products the norm: our customers concerned!
The new European Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (“ESPR”) was adopted by the EU Council on May 27, 2024, and is due to be published in the EU Official Journal shortly.
This new regulation is part of the Green Deal for Europe and the Circular Economy initiative, and aims to reduce the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle. It concerns any physical good, including components and intermediate products, except food, feed, medicines, plants, animals, products of human origin, plant and animal products related to their future reproduction, and vehicles.
In concrete terms, the text subjects products placed on the market or put into service in the EU to minimum ecodesign requirements, in order to improve the environmental sustainability of products. Products may only be placed on the market or put into service if they comply with the ecodesign requirements applicable to them.
The European Commission will adopt delegated acts to set eco-design requirements. These requirements will improve the following aspects of products:• durability ;
• reliability ;
• reusability ;
• upgradeability
• reparability ;
• possibility of maintenance and reconditioning;
• presence of substances of concern;
• energy consumption and efficiency;
• water consumption and efficiency;
• resource consumption and efficiency;
• recycled content ;
• remanufacturability;
• recyclability;
• materials recovery potential;
• environmental impact, including carbon footprint and environmental footprint;
• expected waste generation.
After much debate, the text establishes a framework for the destruction of unsold consumer products and a ban on the destruction of unsold clothing, clothing accessories and footwear, except for micro and small businesses.
The new regulation also introduces a Digital Product Passport (DPP). This digital passport will provide direct access to information on product sustainability and the entire value chain: warranty period, impact, circularity, presence of substances of concern, reusability and recyclability, etc.
FIRSH tip : Firsh supports its customers in this “sustainable” compliance process.
✨ NEWS « FIRSH » ✨
Firsh’s awards
Less than a year after its creation, Firsh has been awarded the “Pioneering Law Firm in Tech” prize by Le Point magazine. The article dedicated to the firm, written by Laurence Neuer, perfectly describes FIRSH’s positioning and values:
• “Technology must be at the service of people, while respecting the values of freedom, equality and justice”.
• Responsible innovation is one of the keys to a peaceful and sustainable society.
• To be a business lawyer is to practice according to values centered on humanism.
• It also means giving time to the community.
• It means thinking about tomorrow’s regulations, while advising customers today, as closely as possible to their needs, with rigor and rigor, clarity and creativity.
Link to article: https://www.lepoint.fr/classements/avocats/
Find out more about Firsh’s contributions to the advancement of law and innovation:
• Claire Poirson took part in the 5th edition of the European Fashion and Luxury Conference in Milan, where high-level speakers presented both practical and legal perspectives on the fashion and luxury industry.
• Interview of Claire Poirson by Damien Licata Caruso for the newspaper Le Parisien about the blocking of the TikTok application in New Caledonia, which was placed under a state of emergency following the deadly riots.
• Interview of Claire Poirson by Fabrice Deblock for InCyber, media dedicated to cybersecurity and digital trust, on the transposition of the NIS2 directive into French law
• Interview of Claire Poirson by Aymeric Renou for Le Parisien on the legal issues surrounding deepfakes
In May, Firsh assisted clients with the following projects:
• Transactional negotiation as part of a copyright infringement dispute concerning architect’s furniture;
• National, European and international branding strategy as part of a global project in the cosmetics sector;
• Finalization of a personal data compliance audit;
• Pre-litigation in the field of the brutal rupture of established commercial relations for a luxury brand;
• Legal strategy work to anticipate and integrate legislative and regulatory developments of a trade union in media ;
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