Schoenherr advised Grupa Żywiec (the Polish subsidiary of the Heineken Group), a prominent brewing company in Poland known for its rich tradition and innovative approach to alcoholic beverage production, on signing a conditional agreement for the sale of the brewery in Leżajsk to Mycofeast. 

Schoenherr advised Oberon Solar Park Kft, a subsidiary of the Switzerland-based MET Group, on its acquisition of 52 hectares of land located in Kaba, Eastern Hungary. The transaction was executed as a share deal and will enable MET Group to construct the so-called Kaba2 project.

Introduction

CSR, CSRD and now CSDDD: so many abbreviations have appeared over the last years in the context of sustainability. Sometimes referred to as the "European Supply Chain Act", CSDDD stands for the "Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive". It is commonly abbreviated as the "CSDDD", "CSDD directive" or "CS3D".

The Moldovan Parliament adopted the new Law on Trademarks No. 25 of 15 February 2024 (the "New Trademarks Act"). The law was published in the Moldovan Official Gazette on 2 April 2024 and will enter into force on 2 April 2027. It is envisaged that the New Trademarks Act will eliminate the discrepancies with the EU aquis in this respect. Accordingly, the law transposes Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights, Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2015 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trademarks, and, partially, Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the European Union trademark.

Good news for cryptocurrency investors: Hungary has adopted a new law on the market for crypto-assets. The new law aligns the national legal framework with the European Union's regulations and ensures consumer protection, financial stability and innovation in this emerging sector. The new law, which was adopted by the parliament on 10 April 2024, covers the issuance, offering and trading of crypto-assets, as well as the supervision and sanctions of crypto-asset service providers.

When developing or refining a product, including its branding, a lot of time and money are invested in creating something unique that customers will need and love. To protect this financial and creative investment, legislators have decided to grant certain monopoly rights or intellectual property (IP) rights. So, how do you determine the appropriate type of protection for your product? In our blog (link) we have mainly discussed trademark protection. But trademark law is broader than you might expect. Besides the "name" of a product, other features such as the shape, the colouring or a sound can be protected as long as they are recognised as an indication of origin and no absolute ground for refusal, like the technical functionality of the feature, applies. Still, trademark law "merely" protects indications of origin. Fortunately, there are also other IP rights that should be considered as part of a protection strategy.

In 2023 we advised a client in connection with the issuance of the first sustainability-linked bond by an Austrian corporation placed among international institutional investors as well as Austrian retail investors. Its main feature is that the coupon for the last year of the term will increase if one or both predefined step-up events linked to the issuer's sustainability targets occur.

A 2020 review of the Consumer Credit Directive (2008/48/EC) ("CCD I") by the European Commission (EC) found that CCD I has been only partially effective in ensuring a high level of consumer protection.

In our practice, we have found that the most common reason for distressed companies to initiate reorganisation measures is a severe liquidity squeeze.