Despite an ongoing drive by organizations around the world to improve the sophistication of their risk mitigation measures, cyber-attacks are continually increasing. A study by Panda Labs shows in Q3 in 2016 alone, 18 million new malware samples were captured.2 Another study from Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) shows more than 4,000 ransomware attacks occurred daily in 2016. That's a 300% increase over 2015, where 1,000 ransomware attacks were seen per day.3 These studies reflect the double effect of technology—connecting the world and facilitating cyber-attacks simultaneously.

Coco Channel, Yves Saint Laurent, Gianni Versace, and Thomas Burberry, all iconic names that are synonymous with fashion and the fashion industry. Further, they are all European designers. From Paris Fashion Week to Milan Fashion Week, Europe is arguably the center of emerging fashion. It can be theorized that the reason for strong intellectual property rights within the European Union (EU), in the area of fashion design, is due to the significance of the fashion industry within Europe. Within the EU, there has long been a recognition of the significance of design protection, which sets its IP protection apart from other places in the world. Several of the protections that the EU has implemented can be traced back historically to attempts by the countries in the region to protect their textile markets, and to protect regional innovations which were being developed within early textile industries. Even in the early stages of the EU's history, there were attempts to create uniformity within the area of design. The desire to create uniformity in this area is continuous, but Brexit threatens a path towards uniformity.

Most legal scholars assume that there are only two “families” of legal systems in the world: common law and civil law. Briefly, common law is applied in all countries that speak the English language and has its origination from the “habits of society.” On the other hand, civil law is applied just about everywhere else, with a few exceptions, such as in tribal law areas, jurisdictions that follow Islamic law, and a few other smaller legal systems. Brazil's New Code of Civil Procedure was promulgated in 2015 and brought innovations to Brazilian law. Elements of common law were incorporated into the Brazilian legal system, particularly that of using precedent. The application of common law elements in Brazilian law is being studied by various legal specialists. This present study explains how common law can be applied in civil law jurisdictions, similar to the way it is being adapted and applied in Brazil.

This article discusses web-based sources of interest to scholars and practitioners in the area of international investment law and dispute resolution.