carVertical court victory: database sui generis rights are not meant to block public data reuse

A big win for digital businesses and data driven innovation! Vilnius District Court ruled in favor of carVertical, confirming that database makers cannot block the reuse of non-substantial publicly accessible data. On top of that, in considering database sui generis rights protection, an adverse effect on the database maker’s investment must be reasonably proven, not just a possible minor decline in revenue.

This decision strengthens the EU’s free data flow principle in Lithuania, ensuring that database protection is applied fairly and does not restrict digital innovation. It provides greater legal certainty for businesses developing data driven products and services.

Congratulations to our client carVertical on this court victory and to the WALLESS team – Partner Laura Ziferman and Expert Raimondas Andrijauskas, who guided them through this case!