Category: Poland

Gessel has advised Finnish plastics and chemicals distributor Telko on the full acquisition of specialty chemical raw materials distributor Eltrex in Poland.

Eltrex distributes specialty chemical raw materials and industrial packaging. The company’s offer is aimed primarily at manufacturers of coatings, decorative, and industrial flooring, as well as manufacturers of household, automotive, and construction chemicals.

Finland-based Telko Oy is part of the Aspo Group and is a distributor of plastics, chemicals, and lubricants with a presence in more than 20 countries.

Gessel’s team included Partner Maciej Kozuchowski, Managing Associate Bartlomiej Wozniak, and Senior Associates Diana Strzalkowska and Katarzyna Olszak.

Gessel did not respond to our inquiry on the deal.

Soltysinski Kawecki & Szlezak has advised veterinary clinic chain AniCura on its partnership with the Wroblewscy veterinary clinic in Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland. Roedl & Partner reportedly advised AniCura as well.

AniCura is a Sweden-headquartered family of veterinary hospitals and clinics, providing veterinary care for pets at 450 European locations in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Portugal, and Andorra, among others.

Back in 2022, SK&S and, reportedly, Roedl & Partner also advised AniCura on its partnership with Legwet (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 26, 2022).

The SK&S team included Senior Partner Tomasz Kanski, Partner Jacek Myszko, Senior Counsel Krzysztof Wos, Associates Kacper Kurowski, Pawel Bochnia, Maciej Jakubowski, and Ewelina Woike-Regula, and Junior Associate Mateusz Zagozdon.

SK&S did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

MFW Fialek has advised the Renters.pl shareholders on their sale of a majority stake in the company to the Enterprise Investors-managed Polish Enterprise Fund VIII. DLA Piper advised the buyer.

The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

PEF VIII, a private equity fund, “will invest up to EUR 19 million in the company’s growth, acquiring up to 80% of the company’s shares,” DLA Piper informed.

Renters.pl is a short-term rental operator in Poland. The company’s services include marketing and demand generation activities, a price management process, reservation and guest stay services, cleaning and maintenance, as well as interior design and photography services.

Enterprise Investors is a private equity firm in CEE that has raised nine funds since 1990.

The MFW Fialek team was led by Partner Miroslaw Fialek and included Senior Associate Pawel Siwiec and Associates Michal Kret and Maksymilian Kulczycki.

The DLA Piper team was led by Partner Jakub Domalik-Plakwicz and included Counsel Michal Orzechowski, Senior Associates Michal Banasiak, Izabela Gebal, Miroslaw Calka, Piotr Czulak, and Agnieszka Staszek, Associates Karolina Pichit, Kamila Mozdzen, and Emilia Kalecka, Lawyer Aleksandra Wronska-Szymkowiak, Junior Associates Magdalena Kolodziejczyk, Kacper Skowron, Agnieszka Tarasiuk, and Zofia Waszczykowska, and Paralegal Paulina Osiecka.

The legal battle between Hermès brand owner and artist Mason Rothschild, the creator of ‘MetaBirkin’ NFTs, has lasted more than a year. But in February, the Court ruled that the NFT version of the famous Birkin handbags infringes the rights of the Hermès fashion house.

Metabirkin NFTs infringe ‘Birkin’ trademark

In its verdict of 8th February, the jury of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that Mason Rothschild had infringed the rights of the luxury brand Hermès and their ‘Birkin’ trademark, and ordered Rothschild to pay damages totaling USD 133,000, including USD 110,000 in estimated profits from the sale of NFTs and USD 23,000 for cybersquatting on MetaBirkins.com.

The limits of creativity with NFTs

The Court did not share the Rothchild’s arguments that ‘MetaBirkin’ was nothing more than an art form and a ‘commentary’ on the real Birkin bags, freely permissible under the ‘freedom of speech’ 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Perhaps influenced by the reputed $1 million worth of NFT’s traded, the jury found that a similar concept to Andy Warhol’s use of a Campbell’s soup can could not be applied to this case, declaring ‘MetaBirkin’ a consumer product that infringed Hermès’ trademarks rather than a work of art.

Landmark verdicts in NFT cases

The Hermès verdict is the first settlement of an NFT case in the U.S, with many more likely to follow. In 2022 alone, a total of 1,867 applications for NFT-related trademark protection were filed with the EUIPO.

So given the volume of EUIPO filings specifically related to NFTs, its likely that the floodgates will soon open to a wave of litigation of this kind, not only in the U.S. but also in global markets.

Perhaps the first sign of this coming storm can be seen in the Court of Rome’s verdict in the Juventus vs Blockeras case. Blockeras, a platform which had been offering NFTs and other digital content related to the Italian club’s trademarks, suffered a similar fate at the hands of the courts, with the verdict confirming Juventus’ exclusive ownership of its brands.

This goes to show that if you haven’t done so already, then you should be seriously thinking about protecting your business against infringements involving NFTs, and doing so as early as possible.

By Tomasz Szambelan, Senior Associate, Kochanski & Partners

Former Clifford Chance Counsel Pawel Pogorzelski has joined EY Law Poland as the new White-Collar Crime Advisory Leader. 

Before joining EY Law, Pogorzelski spent almost 16 years with Clifford Chance, joining the firm as a Trainee in 2006, becoming an Associate in 2007, then a Senior Associate in 2011, and a Counsel in 2019. He holds an LLM degree from the University of Warsaw.

Joining alongside him, as a Counsel in the same practice, is former Clifford Chance Senior Associate Justyna Zuzanna Blazejczyk-Kuwal. She spent ten and a half years with her previous firm.

Gide Warsaw has advised Value4Capital and Genesis Capital on their acquisition of Polish supply chain management solutions provider XBS Group. GKR Legal advised XBS.

The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

V4C is a Polish private equity fund. Genesis Capital is a Czech private equity fund.

Gide’s team included Partner Pawel Grzeskowiak, Attorneys at Law Edyta Zalewska and Szymon Chwalinski, Advocate Wojciech Czyzewski, and Trainee Advocates Magdalena Zawislak and Kamil Chatlas.

GKR Legal’s team included Partner Rafal Roszkowski and Attorney at Law Tomasz Malecki.

B2RLaw, working with Dechert and Matheson, has advised Graham Partners on its acquisition of Taoglas Group Holdings from its founder.

Graham Partners is a private investment firm targeting technology-driven manufacturing companies.

According to B2RLaw, “Taoglas, which is Ireland-headquartered and has ten global facilities including in the US, Taiwan, China, India, and Poland, is a trusted provider of antennas, advanced IoT components, and custom design services that helps customers navigate complex RF and wireless systems and brings connectivity solutions to market.”

B2RLaw’s team included Partner Piotr Szelenbaum, Counsel Paulina Wyrostek, Associates Joanna Markowicz-Maciocha and Jacek Mizgier, Junior Associate Dorota Gajuk, and Paralegal Krzysztof Judasz.

B2RLaw could not provide additional information on the deal.

Former Senior Associate Michal Tracz has been promoted to a Partner position at KRK Kieszkowska Rutkowska Kolasinski in Warsaw.

According to KRK, Tracz will continue to head the Food Law and Cosmetic Products Law practice at the firm. Tracz has been with KRK since 2020 when he joined as a Senior Associate. Before that, he spent almost nine years with DZP, first as a Junior Associate, becoming an Associate in 2015, and a Senior Associate in 2019.

“Michal Tracz is an expert with unique experience on the market and a lawyer with an excellent understanding of the specificity of the economic sectors in which he advises,” Partner Ewa Rutkowska commented. “Michal’s promotion to Partner is an expression of the recognition not only of his substantive knowledge and position on the market but also of his contribution to building our law firm’s team.”

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on March 28, 2023, to fix a spelling error.

Gessel has advised PGB Holdco on its sale of biogas electricity producer Polska Grupa Biogazowa to TotalEnergies. Clifford Chance advised the buyer.

TotalEnergies is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company.

Polska Grupa Biogazowa is a Polish producer of electricity from biogas. It owns, according to Clifford Chance, “nearly 20 biogas plants and six photovoltaic farms in Poland, as well as a pipeline of greenfield biogas and PV projects.”

Gessel’s team included Managing Partner Marcin Macieszczak, Managing Associate Aleksandra Szyszko-Kaminska, and Associate Marcin Walczak.

Clifford Chance’s team included Partners Marcin Bartnicki and Pawel Puacz, Counsel Krzysztof Hajdamowicz, Senior Associates Rafal Burda, Izabela Cybulska, Oliwia Hutnik, Marta Michalek-Gervais, Weronika Mietla, Aleksandra Rzegocka, Aleksandra Ulatowska, and Arkadiusz Walkowicz, Associate Adrian Krol, and Lawyers Krzysztof Burda, Kamila Hora, Joanna Kuzminska, Maria Majchrzak, Julia Piotrkowicz, Grzegorz Serafin, Marcelina Slugocka, Adam Szyndler, Marcin Waszynski, and Mariusz Wisniewski.

Greenberg Traurig has advised landlord Invesco Real Estate on its lease agreement with Carrefour Polska for retail space in the Plac Unii office and retail complex in Warsaw.

According to the firm, “Carrefour’s store, with an area of 3,000 square meters, will replace Supersam, which operated in the Plac Unii complex until the end of 2022.”

Plac Unii is a mixed-use building in Warsaw with a total leasable area of 46,000 square meters providing office, service, and retail space.

Invesco Real Estate is a real estate investment manager. Carrefour is a French retail and wholesaling corporation.

Greenberg Traurig previously advised Invesco Real Estate on a lease agreement with ING Bank Slaski and its subsidiaries for office space in the same building (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on May 2, 2022). 

The Greenberg Traurig team was led by Local Partner Magdalena Zyczkowska-Jozwiak and included Senior Associate Karolina Kuzniak.