Young Practitioners Delve into Intellectual Property and Data Privacy

Published: April 15, 2020

Joelle Dvir McDonald Hopkins LLC Miami, Florida, USA

Samuel Jativa University of Miami School of Law Miami, Florida, USA

Young practitioners and law students convened at the Florida International University College of Law in Miami, Florida, USA, for a reception and panel discussion on the “Connections and Boundaries Between Intellectual Property and Data Privacy.” The event was co-hosted by Antequera Parilli & Rodríguez (Venezuela), Akerman (USA), Lott & Fischer (USA), Florida International University College of Law (USA), and the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). It took place on February 6, and was attended by more than 30 intellectual property (IP) and privacy practitioners across South Florida.

The event began with a networking reception, where young practitioners and law students had an opportunity to meet and network. Professor Hannibal Travis (Florida International University College of Law) delivered the opening remarks, followed by Barbarita Guzman (Partner, Antequera Parilli & Rodriguez, Venezuela) and Rachel B. Rudensky (Of Counsel, Akerman, USA). Ms. Rudensky gave a presentation on the value of INTA for young practitioners and the best ways for young practitioners to become involved in the organization. The event concluded with a panel discussion moderated by Neda Lajevardi (Partner, Lott & Fischer, USA), and included panelists Juan Carlos Palacio (Stryker Corporation, USA), Victorino Tejera (Oracle Corporation, USA), and Professor Travis.

Mr. Palacio, Stryker’s Associate Privacy Counsel, began the panel discussion by speaking about the recently implemented California Consumer Privacy Act and discussing how privacy laws and regulations are designed to protect individual rights. Specifically, he elaborated on how the goal of the legislative history being advanced is to protect the privacy of data entrusted to organizations. He compared this to IP and pointed out that IP is trying to protect a very different kind of data or product within the organization.

Mr. Tejero, Oracle’s Legal and P&S Counsel, then discussed the General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR), the European Union’s law on data protection and privacy that went into effect in 2018. He described how Latin America looks to EU law and interpretation for guidance on handling data privacy matters and models its laws after the GDPR. Mr. Tejero also discussed the challenges with addressing data privacy within a global corporation like Oracle, since the legal landscape for data privacy differs internationally.

Professor Travis tied in data privacy with IP law by discussing the effect of the GDPR on the practice of IP. Particularly, he said, the GDPR is limiting the ability to find out WHOIS information. Because of this, IP owners and practitioners are turning to in rem litigation or subpoenas to unveil the user of a particular domain name. Professor Travis also detailed a variety of cases that evidence the interplay between IP and data privacy.

The panelists agreed that the crossover between IP and data privacy is an interesting and rapidly evolving field. As the privacy landscape changes, practitioners will need to stay abreast of the newest laws to understand the impacts on IP.

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