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TMC - Technology, Media & Com­mu­nic­a­tions

Fuelled by increased consumer demand for cutting edge products and low-cost services, your business is faced with the constant battle to offer ‘more for less’. Innovation is key, but you need to overcome significant regulatory and commercial hurdles. For the past two decades, our team of over 100 specialist partners in 33 countries has been exposed to every risk and challenge you face in the TMC sector such as IP infringements or anti-trust issues. This means we understand the industries in which you transact including telecommunications, technology, sourcing, sports and media as well as data protection and are able to develop innovative solutions for you.

Technological convergence coupled with the rapid spread of new technologies has opened up a wealth of opportunities in your industry and you must move swiftly to capitalise on them. To stay ahead of the competition, you need to spot and pre-empt legal difficulties before they arise. From M&A to investment and financing, from tax to licensing and product liability, from intellectual property to employment and environmental issues, from network sharing to outsourcing, our multi-disciplinary teams can help guide you towards the most commercially successful outcome.

Winner of the 2019 Trends Legal Award for “Best law firm in IP, IT & TMT”

"CMS has a market-leading telecoms practice offering expertise in regulatory and contentious mandates, including around tariffs. The law firm has a particular focus on advising clients from the automotive sector on the technology, telecommunications and data protection aspects of connected cars. Team members offer experience in media regulatory issues and licence fee disputes. Lawyers from the team also advise on data privacy issues, assisting with data breaches, cyber attacks and consumer protection."

Chambers Europe, 2023

"CMS is well regarded by clients for its ‘dedicated, broad expertise‘."

Legal 500, 2022

"CMS is fairly unique given that their expert teams cover in essence all aspects of the IT, communications, media and entertainment industries. They work seamlessly together through the combination of the skill sets that are needed to obtain the best results for their clients."

Feedback from a client about the department - Legal 500, 2022

"The CMS teams are fully dedicated to the matters which the client entrusts to them. They really care about their clients, work relentlessly in the best interest of their clients and always look for additional innovative arguments. Dirk Van Liedekerke and Alexis Laes really stand out in this respect."

Feedback from a client about the department - Legal 500, 2022

"A litany of blue-chip media conglomerates, sports associations, and major corporations turn to the sizeable team at CMS for assistance with contentious and non-contentious assignments. IP disputes are a key strength for the cross-practice group, with recent highlights including high-profile anti-counterfeiting actions, trademark infringements and contractual breaches. Tom Heremans acts for world-leading entertainment companies and international football organisations in a range of copyright and patent litigation proceedings. Managing partner Renaud Dupont is noted for his expertise in distribution agreements."

Legal 500, 2022

"Dedicated, broad expertise in the area of data protection and information security, also in complex situations."

Feedback from a client about the department - Legal 500, 2022

"The lawyers know that speed and pragmatism are important, not just legal theory, and they apply that to our cases to give us bespoke work that is translated into business language"

Feedback from a client about the department - Chambers Europe, 2022

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19/09/2023
Trading of crypto-as­sets in detail
The Markets in Crypto-As­sets Regulation (MiCAR) sets down a harmonised regulatory framework for service providers known as crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), which carry out activities with crypto-as­sets...
16/08/2023
AI-ming high: the integration of AI into gaming
Since gaming’s inception in 1958, when physicist William Higinbotham created what is thought to be the first video game, the landscape of the industry has undergone a remarkable trans­form­a­tion as many...
15/08/2023
AI in healthcare inventions – technical or not technical?
Sum­maryRe­cent European Patent Office (EPO) Board of Appeal case T 1910/20 sits among a number of decisions regarding the discussion of what constitutes technical character in the field of health­care...
08/08/2023
Igniting the Path to Trustworthy AI: European Standards and the AI Act
In the realm of AI, all eyes are on the ground-break­ing AI Act (the “AIA”), a momentous EU legislation which will apply to providers, users, importers, and distributors of AI systems within the European...
11/07/2023
EU reaches agreement on Data Act – Com­pre­hens­ive EU data law is on the...
On 27 June 2023, the European Parliament and Council resolved the remaining open points and reached a political agreement on the EU Data Act, paving the way for a new law that will introduce com­pre­hens­ive...
10/07/2023
EU regulation mandates crypto-asset white paper
1. Definition of the crypto-asset white paperIn order to establish a harmonised framework for markets in crypto-as­sets in the EU, the MiCAR introduces minimum standards and disclosure requirements for...
10/07/2023
Adequacy Decision on EU-US Data Privacy Framework adopted
The European Commission has an­nounced today 10 July 2023 the adoption of its "adequacy decision" on the EU - US Data Privacy Framework (“DPF") to allow EU-US data flows to businesses that will have...
05/07/2023
How to use E-money tokens in the EEA
The Markets in Crypto-as­sets Regulation (MiCAR) covers electronic money or e-money tokens, a crypto-asset that purports to maintain a stable value by referring to the value of a fiat currency that is...
28/06/2023
UK announces £21m AI roll-out across NHS
In­tro­duc­tionOn 23 June 2023, the UK government announced a £21 million fund aimed at accelerating the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) across the National Health Service (“NHS”)...
26/06/2023
Overview of the competent authorities under MICAR
Building on the CMS series of articles “Legal experts on Markets in Crypto-As­sets (MiCA) reg­u­la­tion”, this new article describes the powers of the competent authorities of EU member states, the European...
20/06/2023
ARTs in detail
EU regulation MICAR now regulates as­set-ref­er­enced tokens1. DEFIN­I­TION OF ARTSMiCAR defines As­set-ref­er­enced tokens (ARTs) as a type of crypto-asset that is not an electronic money token and that purports...
16/06/2023
European parliament adopts text of the EU AI Act and calls for public consultation
On 14 June 2023, the European Parliament formally adopted its compromise text on the EU AI Act (ht­tps://www.euro­parl.europa.eu/do­ceo/doc­u­ment/TA-9-2023-0236_EN.pdf), paving the way for the in­ter­insti­tu­tion­al...