Spotlight on Emerald Group’s IP, IT, E-commerce and Data Protection Solutions
Whether you are launching a business or already operating one, it is essential to understand all the laws and policies around important matters such as Intellectual Property, IT security, E-Commerce and Data Protection.
Surely you have noticed in your daily web browsing experience how any new website you enter is usually bombarding you with pop-up windows asking to ‘accept cookies’, ‘agree to the privacy policy’ and ‘acknowledge a long GDPR statement’ anytime any personal information is entered.
As much as these ‘buzz words’ have become a normal daily phenomenon, how much do you really understand them? Most importantly, how much does your business comply with them and are you aware of the extent of reputation damage and financial loss that follows the failure to comply to the laws governing these areas? It is not only important to protect personal data of customers, but it is also important for companies that are mostly operating online to protect their intellectual property rights, especially during this digital age where everything is accessible via the internet.
If you are not quite sure, feel free to reach out to our team of experts who are specialized in these matters and will be happy to advise you on our areas of specialization which are:
Intellectual Property, IT and E-Commerce Solutions:
We provide tailor made legal services for Intellectual Property and IT matters, ranging from tradename and trademark registration and protection, to patent protection, design registration, software and hardware agreements, copyright and licensing agreements, and tax rulings.
We advise our clients on tax aspects of intellectual property matters, including the favourable Cyprus Intellectual Property Box regime: 80% of the profits qualifying for the regime are exempt from tax. With a corporate tax rate of 12.5%, this can result in an effective tax rate of as low as 2.5%.
Our areas of expertise include the following:
Acquisition, registration and protection of intellectual property rights: draft or review agreements for the acquisition of Intellectual Property rights owned by third parties in the most tax efficient way and advise on the proper corporate structure. Registration and protection of intellectual property rights on national, EU and international level.
Copyright, Passing Off, Trade Marks, Patents and Designs: establish, defend and protect copyrights, as well as register trademarks, patents and designs on national, EU and international level.
Domain Names: obtain domains across a variety of platforms, in Cyprus and above, draft or review agreements for the acquisition of existing domains from other entities.
E-Commerce: draft terms and conditions of websites, platforms, including but not limited to, privacy policy, cookies policy and guidelines, in accordance with applicable national and EU laws
Software Agreements: draft or review agreements between your company and your customers for use of the software you have the rights to.
Licensing Agreements: draft or review agreements between your company and your customers or service providers for the use of intellectual property you own, or intellectual property your customers or service providers own.
Hardware Agreements: draft or review agreements between your company and your service providers for the supply and use of hardware owned by your company or your service providers such as servers.
Tax Ruling from the Cyprus Ministry of Finance pursuant to Cyprus Intellectual Property Box regime: If your intellectual property could be considered as a qualified intangible asset, we can apply and obtain from the Cyprus Ministry of Finance tax ruling as to the tax treatment of the income and expenses related with the economic activity of your intellectual property.
Data Protection:
We advise large organizations and SMEs across diverse industries in all matters related to compliance with EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as the relevant national legislation of Cyprus. We provide data protection solutions that are tailor made to the unique needs of our clients in order to ensure compliance while helping them transition to the framework of GDPR.
Our solutions extend to:
Assessment and evaluation of organization’s existing forms and procedures for the collection and processing of personal data of employees, customers, and associates
Assessment and evaluation of organization’s existing data protection measures and procedures
Development, design and implementation of compliant controls, procedures and structures for the protection of personal data
Cooperation with management and employees for the implementation and monitoring of new policies, procedures and measures for data protection
Data Protection Officer as a service to monitor and maintain compliance with GDPR
Drafting, Reviewing and Advising:
Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy
Data Processing Agreements or Data Processing Addendums to existing agreements with third country (non-EU) data processors or recipients of data
Binding Corporate Rules and Model Clauses as per needs and requirements of client for the transfer of persona data outside of European Union
Record of Processing Activities if your company has over 250 employees or is obliged to have such record pursuant to other factors.
Data Retention Policy
Data Protection Impact Assessment
Forms of email templates to be send to data subjects who wish to exercise their data protection rights
Forms of marketing and administrative emails of organizations to ensure compliance with GDPR and ePrivacy Directive (Directive 2002/58/EC)
Consent forms in order to obtain consent for the processing of personal data from your clients, contractors, and employees
Consultation in relation to Cookies pop-up box of the Website, collection and storage of cookies and obtaining consent under the ePrivacy Directive and GDPR
Advising on how to handle data subjects’ requests and complaints and liaising with such individuals whose personal data is being processed by the client or they have made complaint to the client
Investigating and managing data security breaches, and notification of such data security breach to Data Protection Commissioner and data subject
Monitoring regulatory developments on data protection law
Liaising with Data Protection Commissioner and other relevant Regulatory bodies on behalf of the client
Representation of client before the Data Protection Commissioner and the courts in relation to data protection matter
Provision of legal opinions in relation to data protection matters, from a GDPR and Cyprus national law perspective
Our team of experts is available for a no-commitment first meeting or virtual call to answer all your questions regarding IP & Data Protection for your specific business needs.