Client Alerts
The Serbian commission for the protection of competition publicises its aftermarkets study
The Serbian Commission for the Protection of Competition recently published a market study in which it assessed the state of competition in after-sales services for motor vehicles and home appliances in 2015. The Commission also invited all interested parties to comment on the results of the study by 31 December 2016....
Slovakia: Public procurement
Do you take part in public tender procedures and conclude (concession) contracts or framework agreements with public contracting authorities? Do you receive financial means from the state budget, from EU funds or state aid? Do you use state property?...
New strict regulation on Best Price Clauses
As of 01 January 2017 amendments of the Austrian Act against Unfair Competition (Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb, UWG) and of the Price Labelling Act (Preisauszeichnungsgesetz) come into force, which ban Best Price Clauses as "aggressive business practices" and declaring such contractual provisions as void. This legislative change is a reaction to concerns also raised by authorities in other countries across the EU (eg decision of the German Federal Cartel Office dated 23 December 2015). In France similar provisions are already in place....
Wolf Theiss contributes to the Amcham guidelines on third parties anti-corruption due diligence
Wolf Theiss contributed to the preparation of the AmCham Guidelines on Third Parties Anti-Corruption Due Diligence...
Proposed new rules relating to actions for damages for breach of competition rules in Slovenia
The Ministry for Economic Development and Technology has recently published a legislative proposal for an amendment of the Competition Act (Zakon o preprečevanju omejevanja konkurence, ZPOmK-1) to implement the Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union....
WI-FI/Copyright
Operator of a Wi-Fi network cannot be held liable for copyright infringements committed by users of that network...
Damages directive
By 27 December 2016, the Croatian Parliament needs to implement the Directive 2014/104/EU on antitrust damages actions ("Damages Directive"), which is expected to streamline the procedure for private individuals and businesses to sue for damages in cases of competition law infringements. Will Croatia be successful in taking its cut of one of the fastest growing niche areas in law, which in the EU alone is estimated at EUR 20 billion?...
Nachweis von Behinderungsmehrkosten – Ein Job für Sisyphos?
Die Argumentation und Durchsetzung komplexer Mehrkostenforderungen beinhaltet zweifelsohne zahlreiche Herausforderungen auf technischer, aber vor allem bauwirtschaftlicher und juristischer Ebene. Zu den herausforderndsten Aufgaben zählt sicherlich die kompetente Begründung und korrekte Bezifferung von behinderungsbedingten Mehrkostenforderungen ("Leistungsstörungen")....
Retail sector tax suspended in Poland
At the press conference held on Tuesday, September 20th, Poland's Minister of Finance, Mr. Paweł Szałamacha, announced that the application of a retail sector tax will be suspended following the European Commission's decision on opening an in-depth investigation and issuance of an interim injunction. The tax in question was adopted by Poland in July 2016 and entered into force on 1 September 2016. The first payments were due in October 2016....
Vergaberecht: Verlängerung der Schwellenwerteverordnung
Verlängerung der Schwellenwerteverordnung BGBL II 2016/250, ausgegeben am 13.9.2016...
New employee record rulebook adopted
On 18 November 2016, the Rulebook on the Content and Manner of Keeping Records on Employees and Other Persons Engaged in work (Rulebook) has been published in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) with the aim of regulating in detail the employers' obligation to maintain relevant records, as provided for in Article 43 of the FBiH labor law (Law). The Rulebook shall enter into force on 26 November 2016....
Protecting your Know-How: the EU Directive on Trade Secrets of 8 June 2016
Businesses rely on protecting their intellectual property, know-how and trade secrets so that they can bring their innovations to market in fair circumstances and without undue risk. When these secrets fall into the wrong hands, a hard-won market advantage can be damaged or lost. Wolf Theiss experts Partner Georg Kresbach and Senior Associate Maren Jergolla-Wagner analyse here the new Directive and discuss how a trade secret is defined, the kinds of recourse that trade secret holders have to act against unlawful use or disclosure, including judicial redress, and issues concerning transposing the Directive into Austrian law....