1. IntroductionSince 2004 the sale by mail-order of prescription-only pharmaceutical products is no longer prohibited in Germany, being the biggest potential market for pharmaceutical products within Europe and thus generally most attractive for pharmacy companies. However, the German pharmacies have been protected during the last decade by a national legislation providing for a fixed–price system for the supply of prescription-only pharmaceutical products ...
Much has been written regarding the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in China, but relatively little consideration is given to the treatment in U.S. courts of awards entered by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), or to the enforcement of CIETAC arbitration agreements. In fact, CIETAC arbitral awards are rejected by U.S ...
The European Commission has opened an in-depth merger investigation into the planned acquisition of Cemex Croatia by Duna-Drava Cement ('DDC'). Registered in Hungary, DDC is jointly controlled by German construction material producers HeidelbergCement and Schwenk. DDC inter alia operates a cement plant in Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cemex Croatia, an arm of the international cement heavyweight Cemex, controls three cement plants in the Croatian coastal city of Split ...
Another day, another failed colour trade mark application. But there may be some lessons to be learned from a recent Australian decision. The quest to monopolise colour goes on, and we have written on this topic on several occasions. In the latest Australian case on colour trade marks, Frucor Beverages Limited, manufacturer of an energy drink called V, applied to register the colour green as a trade mark for its energy drinks ...
A trade mark dispute about the name Iceland highlights the issue of trade marks in relation to geographic names. A dispute has arisen in Europe between Iceland the country and Iceland the brand – Iceland is a large UK-based supermarket chain. The supermarket chain has an EU trade mark registration for the name Iceland, a registration that it struggled long and hard to get, overcoming multiple oppositions along the way ...
It has always been the practice of the Industrial Property Institute (“IPI”) of Mozambique to prohibit the refiling of trade marks that have been finally refused, which has posed a serious obstacle to trade mark applicants who wish to refile their applications in Mozambique for strategic reasons. Refiling provides the applicant with an opportunity to consider the options available to overcome obstacles posed by earlier trade marks, or refusals based on distinctiveness ...
Karanovic & Nikolic is pleased to announce its involvement in advising R&R Ice Cream, a leading ice cream company based in the UK, on Serbian law matters relating to its 50/50 joint venture with Nestlé, the world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company. The advising team consisted ofSrdjan DabeticandStefan Antonicfrom Karanovic & Nikolic’s Belgrade office ...
Karanovic & Nikolic, in cooperation with law firm Goodwin Procter, is pleased to have provided all around legal support and advice to GoDaddy on its acquisition of Devana Techologies’ ManageWP business. ManageWP is a Serbian based start-up service for managing multiple WordPress websites, developed by Devana Technologies; GoDaddy is the world’s largest internet domain registrar ...
According to last week's news reports, the President of the Provincial Government of Vojvodina, Igor Mirovic, met the Ambassador of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Lazar Mirkic, in Belgrade on Thursday, 15 September, for the purpose of discussing Bosnian interest for Vojvodina's food products and the potential cooperation in the area of tourism ...
Arbitral institutions strive to provide the parties they serve with a fair and impartial dispute resolution process that results in an unassailable final award. Since “evident partiality” in the arbitrators is one of the limited means to attack an award, the selection of unbiased arbitrators is fundamental to that goal, and most arbitral institutions have some requirement or guidance on arbitrator disclosures ...
Media reports from Croatia are telling us that the Podravka food company has sold its Studenac mineral water bottling facilities to the Slovenian Radenska company, which is in turn owned by the Czech company Kofola – one of the European leaders in the field of producing and distributing non-alcoholic drinks. The acquisition contract has been reported as signed, with the full takeover expected to happen by the end of this year ...
The Law Decree No. 211 was amended on August 30th, 2016 by Law 20,945 (the “New Law“). The following are the main amendments: Amendments on collusionThe New Law amends the crime of collusion introducing the per se standard to punish hard core cartels, providing evidence of the existence of an agreement being sufficient, independently of the power of the parties in the market and the anti-competitive effects ...
ENSafrica’s 2016 Anti-Bribery and Corruption Survey Results Overview ENSafrica’s third annual anti-bribery and corruption (“ABC”) survey has revealed that 39% of respondents have experienced incidents of bribery or corruption in the last 24 months. The key question addressed in the survey was whether or not companies are putting proportionate measures in place to deal with the rising risks of bribery and corruption ...
On August 28, 2016, the Israeli District Court of the Central District issued a decision regarding the right of publicity under Israeli Law (In re Fundacio Gala Salvador Dali v. V.S Marketing (Israel 2005) Ltd.). The right of publicity is the right of a person to financially exploit his name, picture or voice ...
Media reports are letting us know that the "Serbia - A Strategic Crossroads between Western and Eastern Europe," conference was held in Paris on 15 September, where the French companies were presented with the political and economic environment in Serbia, as well as with the ensuing investment opportunities and the possibility of financing economic projects ...
The credit industry in South Africa is significant and lucrative. According to the National Credit Regulator’s Consumer Credit Market Report for the first quarter of 2016, South Africa’s total outstanding gross debtors’ book for consumers for the quarter ended March 2016 was a staggering R1.66-trillion, in respect of which unsecured credit accounted for R165.16-billion ...
Recent news reports from Bosnia tell us that the BiH government, represented by the federal prime minister for economic issues and investments, Suvad Osmanagic, paid a visit to Bihac with Ludovico Camozzi, the president and owner of Camozzi – an Italian company that produces industrial automation machinery. The main purpose of this visit was to see Kombiteks, a textile production company that has been in bankruptcy and in and out of operation for the past 15 years ...
Acceleration clauses are commonly found in loan agreements that require debtors to make repayment in instalments. A standard acceleration clause provides that if a debtor fails to pay an instalment, the creditor may elect to terminate the loan agreement and demand payment of the full amount owing under the agreement ...
There’s certainly been a great deal of litigation around the trade mark ClearVu in South Africa – passing-off proceedings before the High Court, an appeal from that judgment to the Supreme Court of Appeal, and proceedings before the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”). Now there’s another judgment, one that deals with an opposition to a trade mark application for ClearVu ...
The Philippine chapter of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Patents 2017 was contributed by SyCipLaw partners Enrique T. Manuel and Vida M. Panganiban-Alindogan. Mr. Manuel heads the firm’s Intellectual Property department. The chapter includes information on patent enforcement, patent amendment, licensing, patent term extension, patent prosecution and opposition, border control measures, Antitrust Law and inequitable conduct, and current developments ...
As we explained previously, in April 2016 the Second Appellate District held that California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) creates a separate duty to provide reasonable accommodation to an applicant or employee who is “associated” with a disabled person. On rehearing of the Castro-Ramirez v. Dependable Highway Express, Inc. decision (Case No. B261165, B262524), the Court has retreated from its prior holding ...
Maria Ostashenko, ALRUD Partner, and Ksenia Erokhina, Senior Attorney, contributed to Comparative legal Guide to Outsourcing 2016. Within collaboration with the publishing house ALRUD specialists have prepared the chapter devoted to outsourcing and its regulation in Russia. The chapter has comprehensiblequestion-answer format ...
The August 2016 issue of the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Asia Edition includes a regional update by SyCipLaw partner Maria Teresa Mercado-Ferrer entitled “A Need to Clarify Powers of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and Local Government Units Relative to Peza-Registered BPO Companies”. The regional update can be found on page 15.Read the full ALB August 2016 issue for free ...
Streets named after a country’s heroes and heroines can be a hotly contested and emotive issue, especially in a country such as South Africa, with its colonial and apartheid past. This was illustrated in the recent Constitutional Court case of City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality v AfriForum and Another (the “AfriForum case”), which not only dealt with this sensitive topic, but also clarified an important legal issue – whether an interim interdict can be appealed ...
