On September 16, 2025, the European Commission opened a call for evidence to inform a forthcoming “Digital Omnibus” aimed at simplifying and reducing administrative burden across the EU’s data, cybersecurity and AI regulatory frameworks. The initiative sits within the Commission’s simplification agenda and its headline target to cut administrative burden by at least 25% overall (35% for SMEs).
Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (the Data Act) entered into force on January 11, 2024, and applied from September 12, 2025, with certain provisions phased in through 2026 and 2027. The Data Act is intended to create a harmonized framework for fair access to and use of data across the EU, supplementing the GDPR and sector-specific rules. The Data Act also includes specific requirements on providers of a “data processing service” to enable customers to switch to another provider (or to an on-premise solution)—this is likely to have a significant impact on the global cloud market.
In this week’s News of Note, Google and the General Services Administration make a deal to bring Google Gemini to federal agencies, NASA and IBM create a “digital twin” of the Sun, and the largest satellite antenna in history gets launched into space. Elsewhere, plans have been announced to start issuing Department of Commerce statistics to the blockchain.
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) (Directive (EU) 2019/882) introduces new accessibility requirements that will apply to a wide range of products and services when they are accessible in the EU, aiming to enhance access for persons with disabilities and improve the functioning of the EU single market.
A recent update to EU consumer law will require many businesses selling online to offer a simpler, more accessible way for customers to cancel contracts within the standard 14-day cooling-off period.
In this week’s News of Note, Amazon continues its competition with Starlink by launching another batch of internet satellites, WhatsApp receives a ban by congressional staffers and “the ChatGPT of quantum computing” launches in Canada. Elsewhere, Texas Instruments announces a major investment in semiconductor production in the United States.
In this week’s News of Note, Disney and Universal target alleged copyright infringement, OpenAI and Mattel team up to bring artificial intelligence to toymaking and China launches its production of the world’s first non-binary AI chip. Elsewhere, Nvidia announces its major expansion into Europe with its first industrial AI Cloud.
After years of contractual entanglements, public disputes and strategic reinvention, Taylor Swift has achieved something few global recording artists have: She now owns the master recordings of her entire musical catalog.
Quantum computing (QC) is poised to disrupt cybersecurity in ways that business leaders and legal professionals cannot afford to ignore. But what exactly is quantum computing, why does it pose such a significant threat to encryption, and what should businesses be doing about it today?
After a decade of litigation and a pivotal Supreme Court ruling from 2023, the legal battle between Jack Daniel’s and VIP Products has taken yet another turn, this time back in favor of Jack Daniel’s. On remand from the Supreme Court in the case VIP Products LLC v. Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc., the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona issued an amended order on January 21, 2025, finding that VIP’s “Bad Spaniels” dog toy is not likely to cause consumer confusion with Jack Daniel’s whiskey brand and trade dress, thereby not constituting trademark infringement. However, the district court found that it nevertheless dilutes the fame and distinctiveness of the whiskey maker’s reputation, thereby still running afoul of the Lanham Act’s anti-dilution provisions. The amended order follows the Supreme Court’s decision ending the application of the more liberal Rogers First Amendment test in trademark cases involving expressive works used as source identifiers. In doing so, while finding that the parody of the “Bad Spaniels” dog toy decreased the likelihood of confusion with Jack Daniel’s by modifying the analysis of certain factors in a light more favorable to VIP, the district court ultimately found VIP’s parody of the famous whiskey brand to be a double-edged sword that contributed to finding dilution by tarnishment.
