E-Commerce Law Week, Issue 597

European Parliament Rejects SWIFT's Immodest Proposal

The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to annul a temporary agreement that allowed the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a Brussels-based international banking consortium, to supply financial transaction data to the U.S. Treasury's Terrorist Finance Tracking Program.  The flow of European Union citizens' personal data has stopped, pending a new agreement.  The vote from Parliament came on the heels of a recommendation from the Civil Liberties Committee advising Parliament to reject the interim agreement.  According to a Committee press release, the Committee found that the interim agreement "violates the basic principles of data protection law" in ways that "cannot be subsequently rectified by mechanisms of oversight and control."  The Committee was also concerned about the lack of defined conditions under which data would be stored in third countries, and the fact that judicial authorization is not required for data transfer requests.  Responding on behalf of the European Commission, the Commissioner for Home Affairs emphasized the importance of EU-US relations in anti-terrorism security matters, and promised to work with the US to negotiate a new agreement that would meet Parliamentary approval.

eBay Loses Another Trademark Suit in Europe

eBay has lost another lawsuit filed by Louis Vuitton Malletier ("LVM") in France.  The Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance (TGI) ruled that eBay was liable for infringing LVM’s trademarks and damaging the company’s reputation by using keyword search terms closely resembling LVM’s trademarks to generate advertisements for eBay’s auction site, on which counterfeit LVM products were sold, and to use the same terms in the advertisements.  TGI ordered eBay to pay €200,000 ($273,176) in damages for trademark infringement and unfair parasitic competition, and to reimburse LVM €30,000 in legal fees.  eBay also faces a fine of €1,000 per future violation.

Steptoe Moves Into Asia

Steptoe has opened its first Asian office, in Beijing, China.  Establishing a permanent home in the region will help us continue and expand the services we provide to clients on issues ranging from international trade and market access to data protection and security.  Initially, Eric Emerson, a partner in Steptoe's International Trade and Investment Practice, will lead the new office, along with Susan Munro, a partner who recently joined the firm from the Shangai office of a major international law firm, and Cindy Zhou, a Chinese trained lawyer.  The China practice group will also include, among others, Pat Norton, Grace Fremlin, and Ying Huang.

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