As part of the long-planned reform of intellectual property (IP) law in Slovakia, it was finally agreed that IP disputes should be handled by a court system able to truly understand the (often rather technical or technological) nature of IP. This decision stemmed from the frustration of many IP owners with the fact that court decisions sometimes lacked sufficient quality and that the proceedings (especially in some courts) took far too long. 

Intellectual Property protection in its modern sense is considered to be quite young in Russia. Although Russia is not far behind world standards for protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property, major changes took place in Russia in 2008. Almost ten years ago the Fourth Chapter of the Russian Civil Code incorporating various Intellectual Property-related rules came into effect. Of course, this area of law is still changing, leading to new amendments, improvement proposals, and legal discussions. 

As a prominent IT-hub in CEE, Belarus gave life to quite a few players in the international IT arena, including EPAM, Wargaming.net, Viber, MAPS.ME, MSQRD, Prisma, and many, many others. More and more Western software and hardware companies are entering into long-term partnerships or other contractual relationships with Belarusian talent. In this context, the basic principles of Belarusian legal regulations that govern the protection and transfer of IP rights related to software are increasingly important. 

Civil damages awards are one of the primary – and often most important – remedies for infringements of intellectual property rights. Damages serve both as compensation to the right holder for the economic detriment that results from an infringement and as a specific and general deterrent to would-be infringers. – The European Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy, “Damages in Intellectual Property Rights” (2009/2010).

Kinstellar Budapest moderated a panel discussion as part of the Startup Safary Budapest 2017 startup exhibition, which included sharing insight on the start-up ecosystem and expectations for 2017 in Hungary. 

The Czech Parliament recently passed a bill amending the country’s Pharmaceutical Act to restrict the exportation of pharmaceuticals from the Czech market that has, in the past, resulted in a shortage of some medicinal products within the country. The Czech pharmaceutical market is thus facing a substantial change once the amendment becomes effective on December 1, 2017.