Creative industries have continued their exponential growth, steadily carving out a larger and larger slice of the market pie. This steady trend brings some changes, however, to their legal needs and expectations.
FinTech and Mobile App Development as the Artery of Copyright
First, let us look at the current state and the trends of the past year in Copyright Law in Hungary.
The most prominent trends that may be observed as being on the rise are these: the market is moving away from litigation and towards out-of-court solutions; assignments regarding start-up companies’ needs from the development of a product idea all the way to execution are steadily increasing; and there’s a marked rise in legal services provided to companies developing mobile and web-based applications and various other companies and ventures developing smart technology.
The most prevalent increase we’ve witnessed this past year is in the field of “FinTech” – the industry sector of companies developing innovative technological solutions which act as intermediaries to the delivery of financial services – the growth of which is currently also being considerably expedited via the provision of financial aid by the government. This cutting-edge and heavily innovative field requires precise legal work because of its deep and diverse connections with Banking and Finance Law, Consumer Law, and various confidentiality concerns, while also posing a wide array of criteria to be met regarding Data Management regulations, all of which are interconnected with the copyright aspects of FinTech services. Sadly, most companies still don’t take copyright into sufficient consideration, which is a deficiency we intend to remedy.
Trademarks – Decreasing Litigation
This past year we’ve noted in our Trademark Law practice that trademark opposition procedures and various other out-of-court procedures pursued before the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office continue to be more prevalent and widespread than court proceedings, although we must note that despite the ratio being in favor of out-of-court proceedings, civil litigation cases are still fairly common.
The number of trademark applications and trademark research requests continues to rise, with the filings for national trademark applications traditionally outweighing those of community trademarks, which has, in the last few years, remained fairly standard. In 2017 we expect these tendencies to continue.
Unified Patent Court – Ready, Steady, Go!
In the field of Patent Law, the ratio of litigation to out-of-court settlements and other non-conflictive solutions is relatively high in comparison to the other branches. This ratio has however remained fairly constant over the last few years, and although we hold it as a tendency, it is relatively unchanging. However, we must make an important distinction within the broader category of patents to better reflect on their litigation ratios.
Some patents are specifically applied for as a future protective measure to a product, inherently meant to provide a market edge by way of exclusion, where the patent rights holder expects his/her patent to be infringed upon in the future. Because of this, the ratio of litigation being high is no surprise here. Other patents are applied for to serve more as a mark of quality, where the rights holder uses the patented nature of the product not only as an excluding measure but also as a marketing tool; in this subdivision the litigation ratio is significantly lower than in the first category.
The other dominant tendencies in Patent Law are, firstly, the observable rises in assignments regarding patent license contracts’ drafting, and secondly, the growing number of clients inquiring about the soon-to-be-active Unified Patent Court (UPC) and seeking to prepare early for the UPC’s practice in order to gain a strong market.
What’s to be Expected
Looking back on this past year and its tendencies, we expect nothing but the marked and continuous rise of both the creative industries and IP Law in 2017, with the economic importance of all pertinent legal fields steadily increasing.
By Ildiko Komor Hennel, Managing Partner, Sar and Partners Attorneys at Law
This Article was originally published in Issue 4.2 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here.