Effective November 1st, new guidelines came into effect for patent applications before the European Patent Office (“EPO”). One significant change affects what the EPO will accept as evidence of transfer of ownership of a patent application, an assignment ...
Overview The new Bankruptcy Law of the UAE was enacted on September 20, 2016 as Decree-Law No. 9 of 2016. It was published in the Federal Official Gazette on September 29, 2016, giving it an effective date of December 31, 2016. The new Bankruptcy Law replaces and repeals the previous legislation on the subject, Book 5 of the Commercial Code, which was seldom used in light of its perceived shortcomings ...
On October 18th the 8th Annual IBA “Mergers and Acquisitions in Russia and CIS” Conference was held at Ararat Park Hyatt hotel in Moscow. A conference was presented by the IBA Corporate and M&A Law Committee and supported by the IBA European Regional Forum. The Conference brought together experts in the field of economics and law from around the globe to discuss the latest emerging developments and hot topics in Russian and CIS M&A law ...
In July 2016, the South African Department of Trade and Industry (the “DTI”) published, and invited public comment on, its Intellectual Property Consultative Framework (the “IPCF”). The IPCF reflects the DTI’s views on South Africa’s IP policy position in the form of a consultative instrument ...
Offensive trade marks, which we have written about previously, have again been in the news of late. Two US trade mark cases have dominated the headlines, and one of these has made it all the way to the US Supreme Court. This certainly suggests that Americans feel strongly about the issue of offensive trade marks. As South Africans are likely to have equally strong feelings on the issue of names that might offend particular groups, these US cases are worth discussing ...
This article considers why private trust companies are currently so popular, various structuring issues which those setting up private trust companies should take into consideration, and the private trust companies regulations which came into force in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in August 2007 and which were amended in 2013. Introduction Private trust companies (PTCs) have become increasingly popular offshore in the last 20–25 years ...
On October 28 – November 1 German Zakharov, ALRUD Of Counsel, participated in 60th UIA Congress in Budapest. German Zakharov participated in the following sessions: "Competition Law" and "Compliance: Challenges and opportunities for the legal profession". The participants of the session were foremost antitrust lawyers ...
Recently, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted a new set of voluntary standards, designated as ISO 37001, to assist organizations in their ongoing fight against bribery. As a result of recent increases in the enforcement of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) and, notwithstanding the guidance provided by the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Resource Guide to the U.S ...
On October 25 Anton Dzhuplin, ALRUD Partner, participated in the Conference organized by the Russian National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Russia) “Independent Guarantee: International Experience and Russian Practice”. Anton moderated one of the sessions ...
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 ...
Latest news reports are informing us that the European Energy Community (EC) went back on their threats of suspending Serbia's membership, after a series of fruitful negotiations between EC's representatives and the Serbian Ministry of Energy. The agreement which allowed for this development stipulates that Serbia has accepted the plan of action regarding the restructuring of Srbijagas, at the same time complying with the requirements of the Third Energy Package ...
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 ...
Recent news bring us an update from the Energy Community (EC), whose latest report has outlined that Serbia has not resolved the key issue of non-compliance with the aquis – something that presents a continuous violation of obligations under the EC Treaty – by not completing the separation of Srbijagas and Yugorosgaz activities in accordance with the "Second Energy Package" ...
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 ...
In the past several years, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and other government bodies have mandated recall of hundreds of products from the market.In some cases, companies have voluntarily recalled products due to their potential for risk of injury ...
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 ...
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 ...
According to latest media reports, the governments of Serbia and Bulgaria have agreed on the formulation of a new memorandum for the task of building a gas pipeline between the two countries, during a recent meeting of the group for gas connections in Central and South East Europe that was held in Budapest ...
