On September 24, the CFPB announced the release of its annual report on the most pressing financial concerns facing servicemembers. This edition highlights that servicemembers are encountering student debt-related difficulties such as struggling to get help from student loan servicers, and transcript withholding by colleges or universities as a means to collect on student debt.
Continue Reading CFPB Report Highlights Student Loan Struggles Facing Servicemembers
On September 20, the CFPB announced a proposed rule which would make a minor yet noteworthy amendment to the guidelines for the disclosures that remittance providers are required to provide to consumers in connection with certain international money transfers, or remittances.
Continue Reading CFPB Revises Disclosure Requirements for Remittance Providers
Those tracking CIPA litigation are familiar with the recent decision holding in favor of a company whose site had an online chat operated by a vendor. The court in that case held (1) that the company had not violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and (2) that its chat was not unauthorized “wiretapping.” This ruling came as welcome news to companies who offer online chat features, especially those who face—or fear—similar lawsuits.
Continue Reading Promising Decision in Wiretapping Case, Win for Businesses
Louise Dyble’s article “Realizing the Potential of Brownfields” was recently featured in the in the Fall 2024 issue of NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development magazine. The article explores the emergence of brownfields in the mid-20th century and government legislation since enacted to address their contamination. The article also examines two current federal programs that support redevelopment of brownfield sites: Environmental Protection Agency-administered competitive brownfields grants and tax incentives and credits. The article also discusses challenges that lie ahead for these properties.
California has been active in the kids space. First, the Ninth Circuit’s recently ruled on the California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act. Second, the governor has just signed a new law aimed at social media sites.
Malaysia is in the process of updating its Personal Data Protection Act to align more closely with laws in other jurisdictions. The law was originally passed in 2010 and then modified this year. As part of the modification process, the country’s Personal Data Protection Department (PDPD) sought input at the end of the summer on different areas of the newly revised law. Included in the request for input was the breach notification process, DPOs, and data portability. The time frame for input ended at the beginning of this month, and we thus expect to see more direction on these points in the near future.
Continue Reading Malaysia In Process of Updating Its Privacy Law
Leading up to the U.S. presidential election this November, our Antitrust & Competition team continues to offer insights into what antitrust enforcement may look like under the next presidential administration. In our last post, we analyzed antitrust enforcement under the Biden administration, which highlighted the results of Biden Administration’s aggressive antitrust policies. Under another potential Trump administration, enforcement priorities and agency leadership would be tough to predict. As our guideposts, we will analyze antitrust enforcement under Trump’s first term, 2024 campaign rhetoric, and antitrust priorities laid out in Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Presidential Transition Project (“Project 2025”), with the understanding that former President Trump has disavowed Project 2025.
Continue Reading The Sequel?: Predicting Antitrust Enforcement in a New Trump Administration
2024 seems like it is flying by. For those keeping track of US state “comprehensive” privacy laws you know that October 1 – a week away – brings the effective date of the Montana privacy law. The “big sky” state will join Texas, Oregon and Florida as the fourth effective privacy law of 2024. This brings to total to nine state privacy laws in effect (with California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia). Check out our tracker for the status of the remaining -signed- state laws, along with a comparison between their key provisions.
Continue Reading October 1st Reminder – Big Sky Privacy Law Goes into Effect
Legal regimes are shifting, including in the intellectual property world as businesses increasingly seek the protection of trade secrets rather than patents to secure their confidential information. When the Defend Trade Secrets Act was passed in 2016, trade secret litigation skyrocketed, increasing more than 25 percent in a single year. While the number of trade secret cases filed in federal court fell briefly during COVID, that number is back on the rise, with over 1,200 cases filed last year. Meanwhile, patent litigation is experiencing the opposite trend: the number of patent cases filed in 2023 fell to their lowest levels since 2010. These trends highlight a shift in how businesses are protecting their companies’ confidential information that reflects an increased desire for comprehensive yet informal protection.
On September 4, the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) issued an Enforcement Advisory cautioning businesses against the use of “dark patterns” in their consumer-facing user interfaces. The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) defines the term “dark pattern” as “a user interface designed or manipulated with the substantial effect of subverting or impairing user autonomy, decision making, or choice” when asserting their privacy rights or consenting.
Under the CCPA, “agreement obtained through the use of dark patterns does not constitute consent.” The advisory accordingly highlights that the effect on consumers, rather than a business’s intent, is the relevant consideration in determining what
Continue Reading California Regulator Cautions Businesses Against the Use of Dark Patterns
In a letter to the CFPB released on September 10, several Senate Democrats implored the Bureau to establish stricter guardrails for BNPL providers, arguing that consumer harm will occur absent action taken to reign in the industry.
The letter, addressed to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, urges the Bureau to adopt its interpretive rule (previously discussed here), confirming that BNPL lenders qualify as credit card providers under the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z. Specifically, the letter proposes the CFPB establish the following guidelines for BNPL:
Implement Credit Card-like Protections. BNPL provides should be required to provide monthly billing
Continue Reading Senators Urge Regulators to Adopt Tighter Controls for BNPL
On September 17, the CFPB issued a circular stating that financial institutions can be found liable for violating the Electronic Funds Transfer Act by charging overdraft fees if the there is no proof of consumers’ affirmative consent to such overdraft services.
Under Regulation E, financial institutions must provide consumers a “reasonable opportunity to affirmatively consent, or opt in” and obtain the consumers’ “affirmative consent, or opt in” before charging fees for ATM or one-time debit transactions. Financial institutions are also required to give written or electronic notice of their overdraft services prior to obtaining consent and must provide confirmation of
Continue Reading CFPB Issues Circular Warning Against Overdraft Practices
Wondering what the requirements are for transferring personal information out of Brazil? Under the country’s Data Protection Law, extra-territorial transfers of personal information are regulated in much the same way as in EU Member States. Parties can transfer personal information from Brazil to a third country only in limited circumstances. This includes, among other scenarios, if the entity receiving the information is located in a country that has been deemed adequate or if the parties put in place approved standard contractual clauses.
There have been questions for both of these, which were recently addressed through rulemaking by the Brazilian
Continue Reading Brazil’s Data Protection Authority Issues Rules Clarifying Data Transfers
This case addresses[1] the application of issue preclusion in scenarios where two closely related cases allege patent infringement against different versions of the same technology. Specifically, this case discusses whether a party’s waiver of a doctrine-of-equivalents theory in an initial lawsuit extends to a subsequent case involving a newer iteration of the technology previously litigated.
After ten years of litigation, the Federal Circuit found that the district court conducted an improper collateral estoppel analysis and upheld ParkerVision’s position on each of the appealed issues.[1]
In a state where the sun always shines, California’s film tax credits seem to be the script for success. On July 10, 2023, Governor Newsom signed legislation to extend and expand California’s $330 million-a-year Film and TV Tax Credit Program 3.0 for an additional five years, meaning the original expiration date of June 30, 2025 has been extended through June 30, 2030.[1] Following this recent expansion, the program, now dubbed “Program 4.0,” has already enticed upcoming productions scouting other locations to reconsider. Colleen Bell, the Director of the California Film Commission, says that just during the first half of 2024, the state has already attracted 12 new and one relocating television series to California.[2] As evidence of that, we see Universal Content Productions LLC received one of the largest credits worth $12 million for the first season of “Suits: L.A.”, which helped ignite the shift from production in Canada to production in California.[3] This spinoff alone is expected to spend $50.7 million and create about 2,600 jobs in California.[4]
Continue Reading Lights, Camera, Tax Breaks: California’s Updated Film Incentives