Van Bael & Bellis on Belgian Business
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VOLUME 2016, NO 7 July 2016 Van Bael & Bellis on Belgian Business Law | HIGHLIGHTS | COMMERCIAL LAW: Bill on Trust Services for Electronic Transactions Adopted by Chamber of Representatives | COMPETITION LAW: Belgian Competition Authority Rejects Request for Interim Measures by Football Club Royal White Star Bruxelles | DATA PROTECTION: | European Commission Adopts EU-US Privacy Shield | Facebook Wins Privacy Appeal before Belgian Court of Appeal | FINANCIAL LAW: Supreme Court Rules on Insider Trading Involving Former Fortis Employee | INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: Repute of McDonald’s Sufficient to Prevent Registration of MAC-Food/Beverages Trade Marks | LABOUR LAW: Bill on Workable and Flexible Work submitted to Stakeholders | MARKET PRACTICES: Publication of Law containing Miscellaneous Provisions in Economic Matters | PUBLIC PROCUREMENT: | Publication of Law on Public Procurement | Publication of Law on Concession Contracts | STATE AID: European Commission Opens In-Depth Investigation into Tax Exemptions for Belgian Ports TOPICS COVERED IN THIS ISSUE COMMERCIAL LAW ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 3 COMPETITION LAW ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 4 DATA PROTECTION ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 FINANCIAL LAW .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ............................................................................................................................................................................ 11 LABOUR LAW ......................................................................................................................................................................................................14 MARKET PRACTICES ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 PUBLIC PROCUREMENT ..................................................................................................................................................................................17 STATE AID ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Van Bael & Bellis on Belgian Business Law should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances. The content is intended for general informational purposes only. Readers should consult attorneys at the firm concerning any specific legal questions or the relevance of the subjects discussed herein to particular factual circumstances. Chaussée de La Hulpe 166 Phone : +32 (0)2 647 73 50 [email protected] Terhulpsesteenweg © 2016 Van Bael & Bellis Fax : +32 (0)2 640 64 99 www.vbb.com B-1170 Brussels – Belgium VOLUME 2016, NO 7 July 2016 Van Bael & Bellis on Belgian Business Law Court of Justice Rules Payment of Royalties under | COMMERCIAL LAW 3 Licence Agreement where Patent Was Held Invalid May Bill on Trust Services for Electronic Transactions Be Compatible With Article 101 TFEU ...................................12 Adopted by Chamber of Representatives ............................ 3 Advocate General Issues Opinion on French Out-of-Print Books Law.......................................................................................13 | COMPETITION LAW 4 Belgian Competition Authority Ends Investigation | LABOUR LAW 14 against Professional Institute for Real Estate Agents ....4 Bill on Workable and Flexible Work submitted to Belgian Competition Authority Rejects Request for Stakeholders ..................................................................................14 Interim Measures by Football Club Royal White Star Bruxelles ............................................................................................4 | MARKET PRACTICES 16 Publication of Law containing Miscellaneous Provisions | DATA PROTECTION 6 in Economic Matters ...................................................................16 European Commission Adopts EU-US Privacy Shield ...... 6 | PUBLIC PROCUREMENT 17 European Parliament Adopts New Cybersecurity Directive ............................................................................................7 Publication of Law on Public Procurement .........................17 Facebook Wins Privacy Appeal before Belgian Court of Publication of Law on Concession Contracts ...................18 Appeal .................................................................................................7 | STATE AID 19 | FINANCIAL LAW 9 European Commission Opens In-Depth Investigation into Supreme Court Rules on Insider Trading Involving Former Tax Exemptions for Belgian Ports ..........................................19 Fortis Employee ............................................................................. 9 New Statutory Framework on Insider Trading and Market Abuse Entered into Force .........................................................10 | INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 11 Operators of Physical Marketplaces Are Intermediaries .................................................................................11 Repute of McDonald’s Sufficient to Prevent Registration of MAC-Food/Beverages Trade Marks ....................................11 Van Bael & Bellis on Belgian Business Law should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances. The content is intended for general informational purposes only. Readers should consult attorneys at the firm concerning any specific legal questions or the relevance of the subjects discussed herein to particular factual circumstances. Chaussée de La Hulpe 166 Phone : +32 (0)2 647 73 50 [email protected] Terhulpsesteenweg © 2016 Van Bael & Bellis Fax : +32 (0)2 640 64 99 www.vbb.com B-1170 Brussels – Belgium VBB on Belgian Business Law | Volume 2016, NO 7 | COMMERCIAL LAW Bill on Trust Services for Electronic Transactions Adopted by Chamber of Representatives On 7 July 2016, the Chamber of Representatives adopted a Bill which (i) implements and complements Regulation (EU) 910/2014 of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the inter- nal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC (the “eIDAS Regulation”); and (ii) supplements the eIDAS Regulation to create legal equivalence between electronic and non-elec- tronic legal transactions (Wetsontwerp tot uitvoering en aanvulling van de Verordening (EU) nr. 910/2014 van het Europees Parlement en de Raad van 23 juli 2014 betreffende de elektronische identificatie en vertrouwensdiensten voor elektronische transacties in de interne markt en tot intrek- king van Richtlijn 1999/93/EG, houdende invoeging van titel 2 in boek XII “Recht van de elektronische economie” van het Wetboek van economisch recht, en houdende invoeging van de definities eigen aan titel 2 van boek XII en van de rechtshandhavingsbepalingen eigen aan titel 2 van boek XII, in de boeken I, XV en XVII van het Wetboek van economisch recht/Projet de loi mettant en œuvre et complétant le règle- ment (UE) n° 910/2014 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 23 juillet 2014 sur l’identification électronique et les ser- vices de confiance pour les transactions électroniques au sein du marché intérieur et abrogeant la Directive 1999/93/ CE, portant insertion du titre 2 dans le livre XII “Droit de l’économie électronique” du Code de droit économique et portant insertion des définitions propres au titre 2 du livre XII et des dispositions d’application de la loi propres au titre 2 du livre XII, dans les livres I, XV et XVII du Code de droit économique; the “Bill”). The Bill introduces rules into the Code of Economic Law (Wetboek van Economisch Recht/Code de droit économique) governing electronic archiving, electronic registered mail, electronic seals (companies), electronic signatures (natural persons), website authentication, trust service providers and electronic identification schemes See,( this Newsletter, Volume 2015, No. 12, p. 4-5; and Volume 2016, No. 6, p. 5-6). The Bill will now be published in the Belgian Official Journal. The date of entry into force of the Bill’s provisions will be determined by Royal Decree. © 2016 Van Bael & Bellis 3 | July 2016 VBB on Belgian Business Law | Volume 2016, NO 7 | COMPETITION LAW Belgian Competition Authority Ends Investigation against is the fact that price is not a driving factor of competition Professional Institute for Real Estate Agents in the sector. Only 4% of the real estate agents considered price as their primary means of differentiation with their On 28 June 2016, the Belgian Competition Authority (Bel- competitors, and 84% did not even consider it to be among gische Mededingingsautoriteit/Autorité belge de la Concur- the three most important differentiating factors. Rather, rence; the “BCA”) ended its investigation against the Pro- correct estimation/appraisal, good reputation,