The European Union and the United States, the world's leaders in the fields of innovation and high technology, share a common set of values based on a commitment to democracy, human rights, market economics, and the rule of law. But EU and US approaches to many technology related issues in law and policy differ significantly, causing barriers to trade across the Atlantic and legal uncertainty within the Transatlantic Marketplace, which comprises about 450 million people in the EU and 300 million people in the US.
Funded by a generous grant from the Microsoft Corporation, the Transatlantic Technology Law Forum (TTLF) aims to promote a balanced approach to today's and future transatlantic tech law issues and to focus scholarly attention on these issues by involving academics, businesspeople, government officials, legal professionals, legislators, policy makers, representatives of international organisations, scholars, students and the public at large from both sides of the Atlantic. The Transatlantic Technology Law Forum's institutional framework is co-sponsored and operated by the Stanford Law School Program in Law, Science & Technology and the University of Vienna School of Law, which established TTLF jointly in a transatlantic academic partnership in 2004. The Transatlantic Technology Law Forum serves as a coordinating and working platform for a series of institutionally open transatlantic tech law projects. A number of American and European universities and other academic institutions as well as international organisations are actively involved in TTLF projects.
It is the Transatlantic Technology Law Forum's objective to raise professional understanding and public awareness of transatlantic challenges in the field of law, science and technology, as well as to support policy-oriented research on transatlantic issues in the field. TTLF engages in three basic types of activities:
The Transatlantic Technology Law Forum's operations are concentrated on five priority areas:
Key elements of TTLF activities include conferences, seminars, workshops, meetings, research projects, courses, joint study programs, summer schools, continuing education programs, a news section and a comprehensive collection of EU and US technology law.
TTLF runs a variety of interrelated projects in the field of EU-US technology law. TTLF is co-directed by Vienna Law Professor Siegfried Fina, Stanford Law Professor Mark Lemley and Stanford LST Executive Director Roland Vogl.
The EU E-Commerce Law Project focuses on the law and policy of the European Union regarding online businesses as well as the relevant economic governance issues and regulatory practices affecting the online transatlantic (EU-US) marketplace.
The Transatlantic IP Law Project examines the law and policy of the European Union intellectual property protection. Particular attention is given to the relevant governance issues for the transatlantic (EU-US) marketplace.
TTLF invites scholars and professionals from all over the world to join its mission and to participate as TTLF Fellows in its research and policy oriented activities (TTLF Fellowship Program). In addition, TTLF is affiliated with the Stanford University FCE Fellowship Program.
TTLF hosts and co-sponsors a variety of conferences, workshops, seminars, and a speakers series to promote the discourse on transatlantic technology law and policy issues (events).
TTLF provides a comprehensive online collection of EU and US technology law covering biotechnology, IP, IT, nanotechnology and space.
TTLF also offers a digest of news covering the most recent developments in EU and US technology law and policy issues.
The TTLF discussion group on Facebook represents a versatile tool to connect lawyers and scholars interested in transatlantic techlaw issues, to follow the TTLF activities and share news and updates with the TTLF community.
Rapid technological advances and their tremendous impact on societies around the world have prompted growing interest in technology law issues and moved the debate from a circle of insiders to the public at large. What follows is a digest of news covering the most recent developments in EU and US technology law and policy issues.
The TTLF is committed to the dissemination of transatlantic technology law and policy news. In addition to its comprehensive news section, the TTLF publishes the bimonthly Newsletter on Transatlantic Antitrust and IPR Developments. Faculty members, TTLF Fellows, associated FCE Fellows, and the TTLF's international research affiliates feature current developments in these fields.
If you should have any questions regarding the TTLF's newsletters, please contact Professor Siegfried Fina and/or Roland Vogl.
Over the last few years, the body of technology related law has grown dramatically. Many different institutional players in the US and the EU are vested with the authority to regulate technology related matters. In the following you can find a comprehensive collection of links to EU and US technology law.
The information included on this website is provided for research and teaching purposes only. Neither Stanford University, nor Stanford Law School, nor the University of Vienna, nor the University of Vienna School of Law, nor any of their employees, agents, consultants, contractors, or affiliates warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information displayed herein and accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the website or obtained through any link referenced in this website. Please also note the disclaimer of the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities (Publications Office).
The European Union E-Commerce Law Project is co-sponsored by the Stanford-Vienna Transatlantic Technology Law Forum, the Stanford Center for E-Commerce, and the Forum on Contemporary Europe (Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies).
This project examines the law and policy of the European Union regarding online businesses as well as the relevant economic governance issues and regulatory practices affecting the online transatlantic (EU-U.S.)marketplace.
The topics covered include:
In its initial stage, the project also includes the "European Union E-Commerce Law: Consolidated Legislation" project. This project focuses on the legal framework of the European Union online business activities in Europe. The purpose of this project is to collect the most relevant EU legislation pertaining to online business activities in Europe and to publish it in consolidated form.
The project's co-ordinator and principal investigator is Dr. Siegfried Fina, Associate Professor of European Union Law and Technology Law at the University of Vienna School of Law and Co-Director of the Stanford-Vienna Transatlantic Technology Law Forum.
TTLF's Transatlantic Intellectual Property Law Project examines the law and policy of the European Union and of other relevant European and international regimes regarding intellectual property rights and their effects on innovation, competition and economic growth. Particular attention will be given to economic and knowledge-based governance issues and regulatory practices affecting the transatlantic marketplace, as well as on comparative research on European and U.S. IP law and policy issues. The fields covered include:
Researchers working in the field will find the TTLF's comprehensive online collection of EU and U.S. intellectual property law particularly useful. The collection can be found here: EU Intellectual Property Law, U.S. Intellectual Property Law.
The project also provides the academic platform and environment for the research of TTLF Fellows and other TTLF Research Affiliates working in the field of European IP law and comparative European-U.S. IP law. The research projects of the following TTLF Fellows and TTLF Research Affiliates are carried out under the umbrella of the Transatlantic IP Law Project:
In order to promote the transatlantic exchange of knowledge, this TTLF project also sponsors, supports and contributes to relevant international conferences, workshops, summer schools and seminars.
An EU and U.S. IP law news section complements the program activities in the field and is available here: EU Intellectual Property Law & Policy News, U.S. Intellectual Property Law & Policy News.
TTLF's Working Paper Series presents original research on technology, and business-related law and policy issues of the European Union and the US. The objective of TTLF's Working Paper Series is to share "work in progress."
The authors of the papers are solely responsible for the content of their contributions.
TTLF Working Papers should be cited as:
Author, title, TTLF Working Paper no., URL of the paper.
If you should have any questions regarding the TTLF's Working Paper Series, please contact Professor Siegfried Fina and/or Roland Vogl.
The Transatlantic Technology Law Forum invites applications from academics, pre-doctoral and post–doctoral scholars and professionals to join its mission and to participate as TTLF Fellows in TTLF's research and policy oriented activities. TTLF Fellows work together with Stanford Law faculty and/or Vienna Law faculty or independently. TTLF welcomes proposals for innovative and independent scholarly research projects related to TTLF's mission. TTLF Fellows are encouraged to make their work available through TTLF.
There is a limited number of TTLF Fellowships available and the application process is highly competitive. Selection of fellows is made on a year-round basis. TTLF Fellowships are, in general, awarded to applicants who already have experience in technology law related topics and wish to add new knowledge to the field. TTLF is presently unable to provide scholarships or stipends to support TTLF fellows.
Applicants for a TTLF Fellowship are required to submit a cover letter, a detailed outline of the proposed research project including a timetable, and a resume including a list of publications. Applicants should also declare where they would like to have their primary place of research (at Stanford, Vienna, somewhere else). References including contact information of referees or letters of recommendation are welcome. Applications should be submitted by e-mail. Only complete applications will be reviewed.
Please address all queries and applications to Professor Siegfried Fina and/or Roland Vogl
The Stanford University Forum on Contemporary Europe (FCE) is pleased to announce the availability of advanced graduate student fellowships to support short-term research at the University of Vienna in Austria. The FCE graduate student fellowships are part of the Stanford-Austria scholarly exchange and public event program hosted jointly by FCE at Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and the University of Vienna. These fellowships are intended to support Stanford graduate students enrolled in a program in any field in Stanford's seven schools. These fellowships are open to all law students and are especially appropriate for graduate students who have reached the advanced stages of their doctoral research. The fellowship is intended to support either short research visits (two to four weeks) or for a longer period of research work in Austria (up to an academic year) to work with faculty and libraries and archives in Austria. Research projects could, however, address issues and thus include travel to other Central European institutions of higher learning and affiliated scholarly libraries and archives in Central Europe.
TTLF fellows, researchers, Stanford Law School JD students, and advanced degree students are encouraged to apply for the FCE fellowship program. Their research work may be supported by the Vienna Technology Law Program of the University of Vienna School of Law and by its director Professor Siegfried Fina. Vienna-based TTLF Fellows and graduate students of the University of Vienna School of Law, who plan to do research at Stanford, are eligible to apply for FCE fellowships as well.
TTLF Fellows who are interested in the Stanford FCE Fellowship for work at Stanford or Vienna should consult the FCE website, and their research director or academic advisor.
Gabriele Accardo is a Senior Associate in the Regulatory and Government Affairs Department and a member of the Antitrust and Competition Practice Group of the U.S. law firm WilmerHale in Brussels, Belgium, which he joined in 2007. Prior to joining WilmerHale, he was an associate in the competition and EU law unit of the international law firm Lovells in Brussels (2003-2007) and in Rome (2003). He is a graduate of the University of Palermo School of Law, Italy, and holds an MA in Antitrust, Economics and Market Regulation from the Center for International Studies on Economy and Development of the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Italy. He has been a TTLF Fellow since September 2009.
Research Project:
The New EU Block Exemption Regulation and Guidelines on Vertical Restraints and Their Implications for E-Commerce in the EU and U.S.
Pablo holds a double major in French Law and Spanish Law from the Universities of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and Complutense (1997-2001). In 2004, he completed an LL.M. at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium). He remained in Bruges three more years after graduation as an Assistant in the Law Department, where he taught European Antitrust and State Aid Law (2004-2007). Since September 2007, he is a Researcher at the European University Institute in Florence (Italy) and joined the Transatlantic Technology Law Forum as a Fellow in 2008. He is currently working on a project dealing with the interface between antitrust and regulation in the television sector from a comparative perspective.
Professor Jacques de Werra has been serving as a TTLF Fellow since Fall 2007. He is a professor of intellectual property law and contract law at the University of Geneva School of Law, Switzerland.
Research Project:
The Law of Software Contracts - A Transatlantic Perspective
Luca Escoffier earned his Law Degree from the University of Parma, Italy, in 2001. Soon after he joined the internationally renowned Italian law firm Bonelli Erede Pappalardo, and after that experience he then worked for other firms in Trieste and Milan. In 2004, after having earned the LL.M. in Intellectual Property from the University of Turin and WIPO Worldwide Academy and carried out an internship in Geneva at the SMEs division of WIPO, he started working as in-house counsel for CBM S.c.r.l., a biotech-related company in Trieste which offers cutting-edge services in the new frontiers of medicine and oversees the Italian technology district of molecular biomedicine. In 2005 Luca has been accepted by Queen Mary, University of London, to carry out a doctoral dissertation on the patentability and (e)valuation of innovations in the field of nanomedicine. Since then, Luca drafted several case notes for the European IP Bulletin (edited by McDermott Will & Emery) and articles on nanotechnology issues. Luca attended many conferences and seminars, also as invited speaker, and in 2006 he has been selected as Fellow of the Vienna-Stanford Transatlantic Technology Law Forum to give his contribution in the field of nanotechnology law. As of August 2008 Luca is visiting scholar and CASRIP fellow at the University of Washington, School of Law William H. Gates Hall, to work on his doctoral dissertation and to carry out a project in conjunction with Waseda University (Japan) to further develop a database of IP precedents. Luca is proficient in Italian, English, Spanish, and conversant with French.
Research Projects:
Patents, Valuation and Securitization of Intellectual Property in the Field of Medical Nanoscience in the U.S. and Europe
Brief Review of Nanotechnology Related Activities in Italy
Nanotechnology under the Magnifying Lens from a European and U.S. Perspective: General Patent Statistics, Non-Obviousness Versus Inventive
Step, and Two Case Studies in CNT Commercialization
Lukas Feiler is Vice Director at the European Center for E-Commerce and Internet Law, Vienna, and is working remotely as a software developer and system administrator for Empowered Media, New York. He earned his law degree from the University of Vienna School of Law in 2008 and a Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP) certification from (ISC)² in 2009. He also studied U.S. cyberspace and intellectual property law at Santa Clara University. Previous activities include a traineeship with the European Commission, DG Information Society & Media, Unit A.3 "Internet; Network and Information Security" in Brussels (2009), an internship at Wolf Theiss Attorneys at Law, Vienna (2006), several software developer positions with software companies (2000-2006), and a teaching position for TCP/IP networking and web application development at the SAE Institute Vienna (2002-2006). He is the co-author of the book "On the Way to the Surveillance State? New ICT Surveillance Measures" (2009, in German) and lead developer of the open source project Query2XML, which was accepted for inclusion in the official PHP Extension and Application Repository. He has been a TTLF Fellow since August 2009 and an FCE Research Affiliate since November 2009.
Research Project:
Information Security Law in the EU and the U.S.: A Risk-Based Assessment of Implicit and Explicit Regulatory Policies
Petra Heindl became a TTLF Fellow in Fall 2007. She is also a Research Affiliate of Stanford University’s Forum on Contemporary Europe at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a senior associate at Binder Grösswang Attorneys at Law, an internationally operating law firm in Central Europe. Her research work is connected with the Vienna Technology Law Program of the University of Vienna School of Law as well, where she did her research as a JSD candidate. Heindl received her JD and JSD from the University of Vienna School of Law in Austria and studied European Union law at the Lapland University of Rovaniemi, Finland. After graduating from the Vienna Law School, she specialized in European Union business law at the Danube University Krems in Austria, where she completed an LLM in European Union law. In addition, she earned an LLM in U.S. Law from Santa Clara University School of Law. Her research focuses on transatlantic software copyright issues.
Research Projects:
A Status Report from the Software Decompilation Battle: A Source of Sores for Software Copyright Owners in the European Union and the United States?
A Comparative Analysis of Online Distribution of Software in the United
States and Europe: Piracy or Freedom of “First Use”?
Natascha Just is a Senior Research and Teaching Associate in the Division on Media Change and Innovation, Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research (IPMZ), University of Zurich, Switzerland. She is TTLF’s inaugural fellow and was a Visiting Researcher at Stanford Law School in 2007. She holds a M.A. in Communication Science/Romance Philology (1997) and a Ph.D. in Communication Science (2001) from the University of Vienna. She was the recipient of a three year Hertha Firnberg Grant from the Austrian National Science Fund and worked as Hertha Firnberg Scholar at the Department of Communication, University of Vienna, Austria (2005-2008). She was also a Post Doctoral Fellow on International Communication at the Annenberg Research Network on International Communication, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (2004-2005); a Research Fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences as part of the research group "European Information Society" (1998-2004); and a lecturer for media economics and politics at the Department for Communication, University of Vienna (2003). Natascha Just’s current research centers on the transformation of statehood in the convergent communication sector with a special emphasis on changing governance structures, competition policy, and market power control. Her research has been published in books and refereed journals such as Media, Culture & Society, Telecommunications Policy, Communications & Strategies, and Knowledge, Technology and Policy. She is co-author of the book "Self- and Co-regulation in the Mediamatics Sector. Alternative Regulation between State and Market" (2002, in German).
Research Projects:
New Directions in the Governance of Communication: Competition Policy and Market Power Control in Convergent Communication Sectors. A Comparison between the EU and the U.S.
Measuring Media Concentration and Diversity: New Approaches and Instruments in Europe and the United States
Sandra Marco Colino is a Lecturer at the University of Glasgow. She holds a Ph.D. from the European University Institute in Florence, a Master's Degree (LLM) from the University Carlos III of Madrid and a Diploma of Specialization in Telecommunications Law from the University of San Pablo CEU (Madrid). Her main fields of expertise are antitrust, telecommunications law and EU law. She is a TTLF Fellow since Spring 2009, and her work focuses on the regulation of margin squeezes in the EU and the US.
Research Project:
Margin Squeezes in the Telecommunications Industry under
Antitrust Rules: A Comparative Analysis of the EC and US Approaches
Christoph Rademacher studied business law at the University of Siegen (Germany), Kanazawa University (Japan) and the University of Cergy-Pontoise (France) and earned his masters degree in 2005. Between 2005 and 2008, he worked as a business lawyer and consultant at Janssen Foreign Law Office (Asahi Koma) and Baker & McKenzie in Tokyo, where he advised corporations on cross-border transactions. Between 2006 and 2008, he was also a Research Scholar at Keio University in Tokyo. Christoph came to the U.S. in 2008 and earned an LLM degree from Stanford Law School in Law, Science & Technology in 2009. After passing the New York Bar Exam, Christoph began working at Google in Mountain View, California, and joined the Stanford-Vienna Transatlantic Technology Law Forum as a TTLF Fellow in November 2009. His research focuses on the enforcement of patent rights in Germany, Japan and the US, which was also the subject of his doctoral studies.
Research Projects:
The Enforcement of Patent Rights in Germany, Japan and the U.S.
Marko Schauwecker joined the TTLF in fall 2007. He spent two years as a research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition, and Tax Law in Munich, Germany. Having completed his Ph.D. in international patent law, Marko is currently off for a two year research visit to U.S. Law Schools, to work on his TTLF project and various law journal articles, as well as to get started with his post-doc thesis. He continues as a member of the European Max Planck Group for Conflict of Laws in Intellectual Property.
Juha Vesala, from Finland, is a graduate of the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki and holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. Since 2003 he has taught and conducted research on antitrust law and intellectual property law at the Department of Private Law, University of Helsinki. At first, in a project of the Academy of Finland he published articles and a study on the regulation of anti-circumvention technologies in international, U.S. and E.C. copyright law. Currently, he is preparing a doctoral thesis on selected U.S. and E.C. antitrust issues in the licensing of technology. On those issues, he has also published articles and given presentations at international conferences. Moreover, while on leave from the University, he worked as Senior Research Officer at the Cartels Unit of the Finnish Competition Authority (2006 and 2008). Earlier, he was a Lawyer Trainee at the European Patent Office (2002). He joined the TTLF in April 2008.
Research Projects:
Licensing and Standard Setting Cooperation: Ex Ante Arrangements for the Licensing of Essential IPRs under EC and U.S. Antitrust Laws
Grantbacks and Other Agreements on the Future Innovation of Licensees in EC and U.S. Antitrust Laws
The following Fellows and Research Affiliates of Stanford University's Forum on Contemporary Europe at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies are affiliated with TTLF and participate in TTLF's programs and projects:
Lukas Feiler is an FCE Research Affiliate as well as a TTLF Fellow, and a PhD candidate of the Vienna Technology Law Program at the University of Vienna School of Law, Austria.
Research Project:
Information Security Law in the EU and the U.S.: A Risk-Based Assessment of Implicit and Explicit Regulatory Policies
Petra Heindl is an FCE Research Affiliate and a TTLF Fellow as well as a PhD candidate of the Vienna Technology Law Program at the University of Vienna School of Law, Austria.
Research Projects:
A Status Report from the Software Decompilation Battle: A Source of Sores for Software Copyright Owners in the European Union and the United States?
A Comparative Analysis of Online Distribution of Software in the United
States and Europe: Piracy or Freedom of “First Use”?
Christine Reiter is an FCE Research Fellow as well as a TTLF Research Affiliate, and a PhD candidate of the Vienna Technology Law Program at the University of Vienna School of Law, Austria.
Research Project:
The Patent Application: A Comparison between Europe and the U.S.