Public Consultations Begin
Digital Markets and Competition Law: The European Commission Opens Public Consultations on Potential New Regulatory Tools
Generally speaking, competition rules have an in-built flexibility that allows the authorities to address evolving issues and novel practices. However, the European Commission (“EC”) has taken the position that certain structural risks related to online platforms cannot be adequately addressed within the current regulatory framework, and has opened public consultations on exploring the need for […]
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FIC Human Resources Committee President Reappointed
Milena Jakšić Papac Re-elected as the President of the FIC HR Committee
Karanovic & Partners is pleased to announce that our Partner* Milena Jakšić Papac has been re-elected as the President of the Foreign Investors Council Human Resources Committee. Over the next two years, Milena’s main priorities as the President of the Committee will be focusing on the new Labour Law, digitalization and simplification of various procedures, […]
Read more COVID-19 Slovenia Update
New Rules on Foreign Direct Investments in Slovenia
The New Act on the intervention measures to mitigate and eliminate the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic[1] (“Act”) entered into force on 31 May 2020. Among others, it also introduces a new set of rules applicable to foreign direct investments into the Republic of Slovenia, which will have important implications for several fields, including M&A […]
Read more Significant Shift in Practice of the Serbian Intellectual Property Office
Powerlifting: Is Copyright stronger than Trademarks?
The story starts rather simply. Guangdong Puss Investment Co., Ltd. from China filed a trademark application for the NOME logo, in Serbia. Serbia applies a “first-to-file” system in terms of the trademark registration. There had not been prior similar trademarks, and the registration went smoothly. However, Guangzhou Renren Management Consulting Co., also from China, filed […]
Read more New Moves
Karanovic & Partners Advises 3Lateral in Purchase of a Lot in Novi Sad
Serbian leading IT company 3Lateral which was acquired by Epic Games last year, purchased a 6,500 square meters lot in Novi Sad at a price of EUR 7,7 million. Karanovic & Partners team led by Senior Partner Marjan Poljak and Senior Associate* Ana Luković provided full legal support to 3Lateral and Epic Games in this […]
Read more Overview of the Rules
Karanovic & Partners Holds a Webinar on Interacting with Healthcare Professionals
Karanovic & Partners held a webinar dedicated to the interaction of pharma companies with healthcare professionals on 9 June 2020. Speakers Milica Filipović, Kevin Rihtar, and Boris Dvoršćak covered all aspects of engaging in ethical relationships with healthcare professionals in Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. The webinar was moderated by Goran Radošević, Partner* in Corporate & […]
Read more The Outlook of M&A
Karanovic & Partners Holds a Webinar on the SEE M&A Landscape Post COVID-19
Karanovic & Partners, together with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, held a webinar dedicated to the post-COVID-19 landscape of M&A in Southeastern Europe. The webinar was held on 8 June 2020, with speakers being Senior Partners Dragan Karanović, Marko Ketler, and Rastko Petaković, who also moderated the discussion, while Natascha Doll and Sebastian Lawson spoke on behalf […]
Read more Enforcement of Trademarks Online
Faculty of Law Takes Down a Fake Profile on Instagram
How trademarks are important shows a recent online legal battle won by the leading law school in the Balkans. The Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade is the owner of a trademark registered in Serbia for the following mark. Even though this institution is publicly owned, it has a long-lasting reputation in education, conferencing, and […]
Read more COVID-19 Slovenia Update
Third Anti-Corona Act in Slovenia – Measures for Employers
The purpose of the third Anti-Corona Act (entered into force on 31 May 2020) is to introduce new temporary intervention measures that will replace the ones that expire on 31 May 2020 due to the official revoking of the epidemic on that same date. The amount of State aid under the third Anti-Corona Act is […]
Read more New Grant
Serbia: State Aid Granted to Kyungshin for a Greenfield Investment
In May 2020, the Serbian State Aid Control Commission (“SACC”) has cleared a state aid granted to the Serbian subsidiary of the Korean investor Kyungshin Cable Co. Ltd.. The granted aid concerns the allocation of 61,534 m2 of state-owned land for the investment in a new factory for the production of electrical and electronic equipment […]
Read more COVID-19 Slovenia Update
Impact of the Anti-Corona Legislation on the Construction and Infrastructure Sector
The Government of the Republic of Slovenia estimates that without adequate state actions the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic on the construction sector will be significant. Accelerating investments in the construction industry makes an important contribution to mitigating the negative effects of the epidemic to the Slovenian economy. On 30 April 2020, the National Assembly […]
Read more New Opportunities
Medical Cannabis in North Macedonia
This Article was originally published in Issue 7.3 of CEE Legal Matters Magazine. Cultivation of medical cannabis has become a lucrative business in recent years. Countries around the world have started legalizing this controversial crop, approving medical cannabis in particular in some capacity. In 2018, Canada made history by passing the Cannabis Act, thus becoming […]
Read more The Marrakesh Treaty
Serbia Has Internationally Committed Itself to Limit Copyright, but for a Good Cause
Serbia counts more than 12,000 blind and visually impaired people, who are struggling to reach texts and other visual content. To improve their position, Serbia adhered to the Marrakesh Treaty, which is in force as of 24 May 2020. This treaty requires contracting parties to introduce a standard set of limitations and exceptions to copyright […]
Read more New Law
Karanovic & Partners Holds a Webinar on the Implementation of the New Law on PPPs in Montenegro
Karanovic & Partners held a webinar dedicated to the Implementation of the Law on Private-Public Partnerships in Montenegro (“PPP Law”). The webinar was produced in cooperation with the Montenegrin Foreign Investors Council. Speakers – Senior Partner Darko Jovanović, Senior Associates* Milena Rončević Pejović and Mina Srećković and a representative of the Ministry of Finance of […]
Read more The Impact of COVID-19
Karanovic & Partners Holds Future of Retail Webinar
Karanovic & Partners held a webinar dedicated to the Future of Retail on 27 May 2020. The webinar is a part of the “Future of” series, where our colleagues and experts cover and discuss various industries and the possible impact the pandemic of COVID-19 will have on them. Retail industry found itself in a completely […]
Read more After an Investigation
Fourteen Oil Companies Fined Over EUR 4 Million by competition authority for price collusion in Kosovo*
The Kosovar Competition Authority (“KCA”) imposed a EUR 4 million fine in total in early May 2020 on fourteen oil companies for collusion on retail prices of fuel in 2018. As stated by the President of KCA, the investigation that encompassed both retail and wholesale levels of the market was launched in early 2019 following […]
Read more New Acquisition
Karanovic & Partners Advises Tethyan in Acquisition of EFPP
Karanovic & Partners advised the Canadian precious and base metals exploration company Tethyan Resource Corp. in its acquisition of 10% shares and management control over the of the Serbian geological company EFPP. With this move, Tethyan secured the exclusive right to purchase the remaining 90% of the shares at some point in the next 12 […]
Read more COVID-19 Slovenia Update
Impact of the Second Anti-Corona Act on Lease Agreements
The National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Act on additional liquidity to the economy to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 infectious disease epidemic (“Act”) on 28 April 2020, which entered into force on 1 May 2020. Pursuant to Article 34 of the Act, the tenants of commercial premises owned by the […]
Read more New Quotas
Croatia Sets Quotas for Renewables Incentives
The Government of the Republic of Croatia enacted the Decree on the Quotas for Incentivising the Production of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources and Highly-Efficient Cogeneration (“Decree”) on 14 May 2020, which sets the total quotas of government-sponsored incentives (feed-in and premium tariffs) for development of renewable energy electricity production facilities. The quotas are defined […]
Read more COVID-19 Regional Update
Merger Control Insight of the Western Balkans
As the COVID-19 pandemic seems to show signs of slowing down in the Western Balkans, the economy inevitably dictates a moderate easing of state-imposed restrictions throughout the region, with most of the measures being relaxed or lifted. This will also be reflected in the work of the regional competition authorities. After working remotely and with […]
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