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January 2019

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On 9 January 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published advice on ICOs and cryptoassets to the European Commission and other EU institutions.  This development is very much part of the international trend in favour of regulating cryptoassets.  The advice identifies gaps and issues with current EU regulation (or, rather, the absence of it).  For those cryptoassets which are caught by financial regulation, ESMA describes the current regime as inadequate, as it was…

On Jan. 14, 2019, Danish tax agency Skattestryrelsen received authorization from the nation’s tax council to collect two years of cryptocurrency trading information from three Danish crypto exchanges to ensure that its citizens have paid correct taxes. The three exchanges must now provide the tax agency with information on all purchases and sales of cryptocurrencies – including Bitcoin – made by their customers during the period from Jan. 1, 2016 through Dec. 31, 2018. Customer…

Pursuant to the Capital Markets and Services (Prescription of Securities) (Digital Currency and Digital Token) Order 2019 (the “Prescription Order”), which came into force on 15 January 2019, digital currencies and digital tokens which are not issued or guaranteed by any government body or central bank, and fulfils other specific features, are prescribed as securities. The implications of treating digital currencies and digital tokens as securities are significant as the Malaysian Capital Markets and Services…

In this article, Ruth Burstall and Birgit Clark of Baker McKenzie, London explore the various opportunities created by blockchain to enhance the supply chain control of pharmaceutical companies.  Blockchain cannot only help with monitoring a pharmaceutical product’s progress through various stages, from sourcing the raw materials to manufacturing and supply chain, but it can also help with meeting regulatory traceability requirements, such as those under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in the United…

It may be the moment for the IP profession to get to grips with the use of blockchain technology in its practice. Blockchain has, of course, risen to its current fame as the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, but how relevant is it to IP professionals and trademark law and practice?  In their Article, Time to Get Smart?, Birgit Clark and Rachel Wilkinson-Duffy, Baker McKenzie, London, explore the idea of “smart IP rights” and…