Category: Hungary

The bpv Jadi Nemeth firm in Budapest is reporting that the Court of Justice of the European Union has published the Opinion of Advocate General Szpunar in case C-49/16 Unibet International confirming the arguments made by the firm in Luxembourg.

The bpv firm describes the matter as “a landmark case defining the Hungarian online gambling regulation.”

According to bpv, “according to the official opinion published today in the above preliminary ruling procedure Advocate General Szpunar sides with Unibet’s arguments and proposes that the Court should find that Hungary’s rules regarding the award of online gambling concession rights are incompatible with the freedom to provide services. “

Andrea Jadi Nemeth, Managing Partner of bpv Jadi Nemeth, commented: “We believe the statements in the Advocate General Opinion can be considered as a milestone and may have a major impact on the future of Hungarian online gambling regulation.” Fellow Partner Attila Kovacs added: “EU law sets forth strict requirements regarding Member State legislation on online gambling. The regulation adopted by Member States – including Hungary –should always be transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory. The Opinion highlighted exactly these points; therefore it is even more likely that the CJEU will deliver a judgment on which we can effectively rely in the proceedings pending before the national court.”

Szecsenyi & Partners has advised Wing Zrt. on the sale of the South Pest Business Park logistics facility to Diofa Asset Management. The Jalsovszky Law Firm advised the buyers on the deal.

The Szecsenyi & Partners team was led by Managing Partner Laszlo Szecsenyi, working with Balazs Vagvolgyi.

The Jalsovszky team was led by Head of Real Estate Peter Gyimesi, assisted by Levente Bihari and Melinda Marczali. According to Jalszovsky, “the deal also required the permission of the Competition Office where the head of our Competition law department, Balint Bassola, represented the client.”

Image Source: europe-re.com

Sar & Partners has advised Hungarian hotel chain management companies responsible for the Prestige, Continental, and Boutique Hotels Budapest****Superior in several trademark infringement proceedings in Hungary initiated by or against the fast fashion company, Industria de Diseno Textil S.A., holder of the international and European Union “ZARA” trademarks. The subject of these proceedings was the use of the logo by the hotel chain management companies in connection with services of four stars superior premium hotels.

According to Sar & Partners, “one of the most important steps in the series of cases,” started eight years ago was a non-infringement proceeding in which Sar & Partners requested [that] the Budapest Metropolitan Court declare that its clients’ use of a logo consisting of the z, r, and a letters and an eastern style ornament between the capital Z and r letter much bigger than the letters in connection with the hotels it represented — “four stars superior premium hotels” — did not infringe on the fast fashion “ZARA” trademark of Industria de Diseno Textil S.A. That first court did not decide on the case on the merit and instead declared that according to Hungarian legislation so-called non-infringement proceedings similar to those in patent law could not be initiated trademark disputes.

In the following two trademark infringement proceedings, both initiated by Industria de Diseno Textil S.A, the fast fashion company based its claim on Section 4(1)(c) of the Hungarian Trademark Act (Act XI of 1997 on the protection of trademarks and geographical indications); namely, on the good reputation of its “ZARA” trademark. Sar and Partners successfully represented the hotel service companies, as, in a final judgment just delivered in both proceedings by the Hungarian Court of Appeal “in both decisions the court declared that the general impression is dominated by the eastern style ornament in the new logo, therefore its … use does not infringe the international ‘ZARA’ trademark having a good reputation.”

According to Sar & Partners, “the court concluded that when a claim is based on Section 4(1)(c) of the Hungarian Trademark Act instead of Section 4(1)(b) (identity with or similarity to the earlier trade mark and the identity or similarity of the goods or services), the likelihood of association on the part of the consumers shall be taken into account dominantly and shall be assessed instead of likelihood of confusion. Since the court concluded that there is no such an appearance that the proprietor of the trademark having a good reputation would provide the defendant’s service, according to the Hungarian Court of Appeal the Spanish fashion company cannot challenge the use of the figurative mark in question.”

“We are highly satisfied with the outcome of these trademark infringement cases against Zara. Our firm considers it a great success that the Court of Appeal has finally declared based on its overall impression and consumers opinion that the use of the Hotel chain’s logo in connection with four stars superior premium hotel services does not infringe the fast fashion ‘ZARA’,” said Sar & Partners Managing Partner Ildiko Komor Hennel.

Image Source: congressline.hu

Former Kinstellar Senior Associate Gabor Gomori has joined Deloitte Legal Erdos and Partners as Head of Real Estate and former Dentons attorney Luca Bokor has joined the firm’s Banking & Finance practice as a Managing Associate.

Gomori began his career with two years at Baker & McKenzie before moving in-house with TriGranit, where he stayed for eight and a half years, before joining Kinstellar in November of 2015. He left Kinstellar in December 2016 and began with Deloitte at the beginning of this year. He specializes in the development, sales, and operations of office buildings, malls, and logistic centers. As Head of Real Estate at Deloitte Erdos and Partners, he will focus on regular services, as well as strategic advisory, tenant representation, and real estate transaction support. He received his law degree in 2005 from the University of Pecs in Hungary.

Bokor, who joins the firm’s Banking/Finance practice, began her career as a trainee with Freshfields and then Squire Sanders & Dempsey, where she stayed for ten years — the last seven as an Associate. She joined Dentons in 2014 and worked there until moving over to Deloitte in February 2017. She graduated from the Pazmany Peter Katolikus Egyetem in 2003.

Deloitte did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.

CHSH Budapest has advised Vienna-based investment manager GalCap Europe on its acquisition of a renovated palais in the center of Budapest under its Eastern European mandate for an individual fund of a German pension scheme managed by Institutional Investment Partners. Lehoczky, Muszka es Szelei advised the unidentified private investor. The purchase price was not disclosed.

The Merkur Palota is located in the 6th district of the Hungarian capital, within walking distance of the opera house and the grand boulevard Andrassy ut. The building, which contains approximately 8,000 square meters of rentable space, was recently fully refurbished and now houses, among other companies, the European headquarters of Prezi.com, Hungary’s most successful Internet start-up. The ground floor is occupied by a restaurant and there are a total of eight apartments in the two top floors, all with terraces and impressive views over the city. 

“The markets of Central and Eastern Europe, in particular Budapest, still offer good purchase opportunities and attractive risk return profiles,” commenter Marco Kohla, Managing Partner of GalCap Europe. “We have several deals in the pipeline for our clients and will continue to increase activities in Eastern Europe.”

The CHSH team was headed by Partner Wilhelm Stettner.

Image Source: gestimhungary.com

BPV Jadi Nemeth is announcing that Peter Garancsi has been appointed to Office Leading Partner and that Attila Kovacs has been promoted to Partner, primarily responsible for regulatory matters. 

While taking over as Office Leading Partner, Garancsi also remains the leader of the corporate/M&A and banking & finance practices at the firm, which he took over three years ago.

Garancsi joined bpv Jadi Nemeth seven years ago after spending two years at Oppenheim and another two years at Luther.

Kovacs joined bpv Jadi Nemeth two years ago as Senior Associate after spending the first nine years of his career at Freshfields and Oppenheim in Budapest. According to bpv Jadi Nemeth, “he has broad domestic and international experience primarily focusing on energy law and administrative law matters and takes an active role in supporting corporate transactions regarding regulatory issues as well as drafting and negotiating commercial contracts and IT related agreements. In addition, he advises clients in telecommunications law, as well as in administrative issues in the field of pharmaceutical industry, and also has extensive expertise in general commercial litigation and arbitration.”

Managing Partner Jadi Nemeth commented: “Having a constantly growing client base and a remarkably expanding team of specialists, our firm reached a new milestone. Peter Garancsi’s promotion to Office Leading Partner contributes largely to the superior management of our broadened portfolio and highly skilled team and provides an excellent opportunity to develop an even more personal client relationship. It is our uncompromised aim to adapt our innovative legal solutions to the clients’ and market needs. In our view, nowadays in regulated industries there is an even greater need for premier legal advice combined with business-minded approach and this is why we decided to strengthen our capabilities in this practice area by promoting Attila Kovacs to Partner.”

Andrea Simandi, the Microsoft Legal and Corporate Affairs Director for Hungary, has been appointed to the role of European Data Protection Attorney within the company. 

As part of Microsoft’s European Commercial legal team, Simandi will support the company’s enterprise customers in complying with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation and accelerate their digital transformation. 

Prior to joining Microsoft as its Legal and Corporate Affairs Director for Hungary in 2012 Simandi was the Managing Partner of the Budapest Bird & Bird office. Previously she was the Head of ITC and IP for Linklaters.

Commenting on her move, Simandi told CEE Legal Matters: “Microsoft is leading in privacy compliance for many years now especially as our cloud services continue to grow. After serving for five years as the General Counsel of Microsoft Hungary, I cannot think of a better time to take on this new, exciting European Data Protection attorney role than 16 months before the General Data Protection Regulation becomes effective. Microsoft is dedicated to fully supporting its customers on the journey to complying with this more advanced European privacy regime which will be my key focus are, in addition to various other data protection issues.”