In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, on 6 August 2021 the Hungarian Government issued Decree No. 474/2021 on the different application of the Patent Act (Act XXXIII of 1995). According to the decree, patent applications filed after the entry into force of this decree will not be subject to a maintenance fee for the first three years of patent protection. The decree was promulgated on 6 August 2021 and will remain in force until the end of the state of emergency related to COVID-19.

Paksoy, working with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, has advised KPS Capital Partners on the acquisition of 80% of Crown Holdings’ EMEA food, aerosol, and promotional packaging business for EUR 2.5 billion. Also advising KPS Capital were Stibbe in the Netherlands, Gide Loyrette Nouel in Morroco, Cautrecasas in Spain and Portugal, Gleiss Lutz in Germany, Chiomenti in Italy, and Zepos & Yannopoulos in Greece. Dechert has advised Crown Holdings, with Bernitsas Law in Greece, Bennani & Associes in Morroco, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in the Netherlands, ENSafrica in Ghana, Garrigues in Spain and Portugal, Homburger in Switzerland, Lexel Juridique & Fiscal in Madagascar, Cellere Gangemi in Italy, Soltysinski, Kawecki & Szlezak in Poland, Kinstellar in Hungary, and Herguner Bilgen Ozeke in Turkey.

Schoenherr has advised Paris-based MNK Partners on the acquisition of the Kodolanyi Janos University building in Hungary from Defactoring Zrt.

In a recent article for CEE Legal Matters, Schoenherr Attorney at Law Alexandra Bognar wrote that Hungary adopted a UBO Register Act this year. We spoke to Bognar to learn more about the new piece of legislation.

The Hungarian Competition Authority (HCA) published its draft report of an accelerated sector inquiry on the Hungarian brick market. The interested and affected parties have only 8 days to submit comments to the authority's draft report. As a main finding, the HCA has not found reasons to conduct an antitrust proceeding on the relevant market. It has, however, made recommendations for consumers and also for the government.

In Hungary, immunity to COVID-19 may be verified on the basis of Government Decree 60/2021 by way of an immunity certificate or the mobile app of the National eHealth Infrastructure (EESZT). While in principle both methods may establish immunity based on either vaccination or recovery from the illness, only the immunity certificate has been available for use since February 2021, as the EESZT mobile app is currently still in its introductory phase.

Even with the summer holidays firmly established in Hungary, the country is seeing activity across the board and a couple of interesting legislative updates stand to improve the landscape even further, according to Schoenherr Managing Partner Kinga Hetenyi.

DLA Piper’s Andras Nemescsoi and Gabor Molnar Talk About The Deal of the Year in Hungary.

Legislation concerning remote work is once again in the spotlight, as Government Decree 487/2020. (XI. 11.) on the application of teleworking rules during the state of emergency modified the provisions of telework as of 3 July 2021. According to the Decree, home office should be considered as remote work during the state of emergency and the provisions of the Decree are applicable instead of the provisions of the Labour Code on remote work.

The provisions creating the legal framework of the Special Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“Special ESOP”) entered into force on 13 July 2021, providing a new special ownership opportunity for employees or board members of limited companies to acquire stocks at a more favourable rate than before.

According to a decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union made on 8 July 2021, Hungarian employees can make claims before the Hungarian courts against their Hungarian-based employer for breaching the minimum wage rules of the Member States where they are posted.

At the beginning of July 2021, a new Government Decree (402/2021. (VII. 8.)) entered into force on the registration procedure of raw materials and products with strategic importance for the security of supply in construction and on other measures. The aim is to control the purchase and export of certain building materials abroad from Hungary. It applies to building materials which are intended to be exported or to be sold abroad from the territory of Hungary, for instance gravel, pebbles, crushed stone, portland cement, bauxite cement, cinder cement, fireproof cements, mortars, concretes, iron bars and wood, however, it is not applicable to building materials supplied in the framework of transit traffic.

HUF 200,000 might be the new general gross minimum wage from 2022 in Hungary. Informal consultation between the Government and the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers has already begun with regard to a new, long-term agreement on minimal wages. The official negotiation process should also be started by 15 September 2021.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Healthcare/Pharma/Life Sciences sector has, not surprisingly, come into focus, with the production licencing and supply of vaccines and the ability of hospitals and healthcare facilities to operate and the production of healthcare products all attracting attention.

In “The Corner Office” we ask Managing Partners at law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their backgrounds, strategies, and responsibilities. The question this time: “What did you most want to be when you were little?”

CMS' Malgorzata Surdek-Janicka has been appointed as Vice-President of the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Aside from Surdek-Janicka, 33 lawyers from CEE were appointed as members and alternate members of the court.

By ratifying the European Convention on Human Rights in 1992, Hungary has committed itself to ensure the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time and to guarantee the right to an effective remedy for any violation of this right. In its judgment in Gazso v. Hungary, the European Court of Human Rights called on Hungary to establish a domestic remedy capable to handle the structural deficiencies identified in the judgment. As a result, at the end of June 2021, a new Act on the Enforcement of Material Compensation for Delay in Civil Proceedings was published in the Hungarian Official Gazette, which will enter into force on 1 January 2022. The Act establishes a new legal remedy for compensation for fundamental rights violations, called ‘material compensation’ which is different from the general compensation (in Hungarian: “kartalanitas”), indemnification or non-pecuniary compensation (in Hungarian: “serelemdij”).

Baker McKenzie has advised Swiss Post on its acquisition of a majority stake in Tresorit. DLA Piper advised Tresorit on the deal.