In the past years, several new EU Member States have started investigations regarding the quality of products. Investigations showed that in many cases products have more detailed descriptions attached, or simply have more active substance if they are sold in the Western Member States than in the Central and Eastern European Member States. It was suspected for a long time that there are quality differences between the same products, sold in the same packaging but in different countries.

In recent years, crowdfunding has become an increasingly popular source of financing for companies, especially start-ups. Crowdfunding is also a great marketing tool, as it allows companies to reach a wide spectrum of potential investors.

Law No. 805 on Compulsory Use of Turkish Language in Economic Institutions ["Law No. 805"] has been in effect for very long time, i.e., since April 22, 1926. Even though it is an old regulation with only 9 articles, it has sparked debate regarding international contracts over the years, particularly in the field of arbitration, and it has even become a roadblock in our legal system regarding the validity of contracts.

As part of the Digital Single Market Strategy established at EU level, in the last days of year 2021, the Romanian Government approved two important pieces of regulatory acts in the consumer protection field, which transpose the corresponding European Directives.

On 14 December 2021 certain acts of agricultural subject were amended by the Hungarian Parliament, affecting inter alia the Act on Protection, Management of Wildlife and Hunting, the Forest Act, the Act on Transactions in Agricultural and Forestry Land (Land Transactions Act) and the Act on the Termination of the Undivided Joint Ownership on lands.

On 19 November 2021 the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia enacted amendments to the Company Law. The amendments are applicable as of 27 November 2021, except for certain clauses for which a deferred implementation is provided. This is the seventh time the Company Law undergoes changes since it was enacted ten years ago.

In the run-up to Christmas, two interesting opinions were issued by public authorities that address some controversial matters frequently encountered in practice regarding cookies and telemarketing.

The Advertisement Board rendered an advertisement ban decision and concluded that the use of registered trademarks on a business sign without a contractual relationship with the proprietor of displayed trademarks is an unfair commercial practice. The Advertisement Board’s reasoning is that such use on the business sign without any legal contractual relationship, such as license agreements, creates the wrong impression over the consumer that this particular business is an authorized service shop of the business products bearing the displayed trademarks. The decision of the Advertisement Board is published on the Advertisement Board Meeting Press Bulletin dated May 4, 2021 and numbered 309.

The Austrian Federal Competition Authority (FCA), together with the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO), has published an update to its guidelines on the application of the transaction value thresholds (Guidelines).

Several modifications of the company rules in the Hungarian Civil Code entered into force with effect of 1 January 2022. One of the most important changes is that the rules on additional payment (in Hungarian: “potbefizetes”), which were applicable only for limited liability companies, have been transferred to the common rules of companies, resulting in that the possibility to require additional payment from the members is available also for general partnerships, limited partnerships and private limited companies.

Amendments to the Law on Patents (the “Law”) entered into force on December 23, 2021, upon publication in the Official Gazette of RS no. 123/2021 as of December 15, 2021. The amendments were initially enacted for alignment of the Law with the EU regulations on intellectual property, as well as for elimination of certain deficiencies observed in its application.

Pursuant to the Law on utilization of renewable energy sources (“Official gazette of the RS” no. 40/2021, “Law on RES”), Government of the Republic of Serbia has in November 2021 adopted two new regulations: i) the Regulation on Market Premium and Feed-In Tariff and ii) the Regulation on Market Premium Model Agreement.

Mark Twain famously said "Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well." Although procrastination usually does not have serious consequences, careful consideration is needed when enforcing IP rights. In its recent decision in case C‑186/18, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") concluded that an unjustified delay in enforcing IP rights may result in the loss of a large part of the claim due to time-limitation.

Capital market activities as defined under Article 34 of the Capital Markets Law No. 6362 (the “CML”) are activities of capital market institutions falling within the scope of CML, investment services and activities and other ancillary services falling within the scope of the CML. In order to carry out capital market activities, permission of the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (the “Board”) is required. Obtaining permission is particularly important given that the consequences of determination by the Board that such activities are carried out without the permission from the Board may have severe consequences.

A cola drink bought in the Czech Republic should be the same as one bought in Germany, right? Well from May 2021, this is required by an amendment to the Food Act which has codified a ban on dual quality food into the Czech legal system.

The end of 2021 has marked adoption of the new Law on Capital Market (the “Law”) in Serbia, which was published on 28 December 2021. The Law was adopted in line with the recently enacted Strategy for Development of the Capital Market for the period 2021-2026 and within a wider process of accession of Serbia to the EU.

While inheritance is considered an extension and an aspect of the property right, a person may be deprived of this right due to their own consent or in some cases, unlawful actions. These possibilities are regulated by Turkish law under the titles of disinheritance, successional indignity, renunciation of inheritance, and the right to disclaim.

On 11 August 2021, the President of Ukraine signed Law of Ukraine “On Stimulating the Development of the Digital Economy in Ukraine” No. 1667-IX (“Law”). Most of its provisions became effective on 14 August 2021, introducing Diia City, a special legal regime for IT companies, and bringing changes beyond the IT industry.