Despite the global angst preceding the GDRP’s effective date, there’s been seemingly little news about enforcement efforts against noncompliant businesses. But, the reality is that EU regulators have been very busy working behind the scenes. As of February, 2019, nearly 100,000 claims under the GDPR have been lodged with EU national data protection authorities (“DPAs”), many relating to telemarketing and promotional e-mails. Similarly, just over 40,000 data breaches were reported to the DPAs; and 255 investigations into EU cross-border processing activities were initiated, mostly as a result of complaints filed by individuals.

The EU’s sweeping data privacy law – GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) – will celebrate its one year anniversary later this month. In this time, the GDPR is credited with, among other things, inspiring other jurisdictions, including the United States, to adopt similar legislation designed to protect the rights of individuals over their personal data and increase the transparency of data collection and processing activities.

In her latest ACC Docket article, Outside GC attorney Lakshmi Sarma Ramani reviews U.S. state fundraising regulations which apply to nonprofit organizations and their corporate partners.

The commercial real estate needs of life sciences companies (pharma, biotech, medical device) are both varied and complex. While start-ups tend to seek small generic lab space, more established enterprises typically require large build-to-suit spaces in which to house their state-of-the-art production facilities. Similarly diverse are life sciences landlords, who range in size from large REITs to real estate developers and even smaller building owners looking to convert their buildings into lab space in the low vacancy rate areas where such tenants tend to cluster. 

As we head into Q2, now is a good time to remind California employers of their obligation to provide harassment prevention training to employees during 2019.

The Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFML) will provide Massachusetts employees paid family and medical leave beginning January 1, 2021. Although the final regulations supporting the PFML are still being developed, employers should familiarize themselves with the PFML’s key provisions, including specific employer compliance obligations which will begin as early as July 1, 2019. 

In an earlier post, we explored some of the key issues in a contract manufacturing agreement from the perspective of the drug developer. However, Outside GC frequently represents outsourced manufacturers, too. The knowledge we’ve gained from working on both sides of the table enables us to effectively and efficiently negotiate agreements that satisfy both parties.

As a start-up tech company, you’ve likely poured hundreds of hours into the development and testing of a marketable product, and have pitched your idea to countless investor groups and prospective customers. After your product is launched and customers are being signed up, a whole new set of concerns will present themselves. For start-ups targeting customers in the healthcare industry, these concerns will likely include the adoption of critical compliance and risk mitigation protocols mandated by HIPAA for the so-called “Business Associates” of “Covered Entities.”