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Intellectual property is a broad concept that covers several types of legally recognized rights originating from some type of intellectual creativity or that are otherwise related to ideas. Intellectual property rights are rights to intangible things, i.e., ideas as expressed (i.e. copyrights) or as embodied in a practical implementation (i.e. patents). Fundamentally, intellectual property rights are rights in ideal objects, distinguished from the material substance in which they are instantiated. In today’s legal systems, the key forms of intellectual property are (i) copyrights, (ii) trademarks and (iii) patents.

By passing the proposed bill on 25 November 2024, the Hungarian Government enacted significant changes to the taxation of company vehicles, set to take effect in 2025 and beyond. These modifications aim to increase tax revenues and promote the adoption of environmentally friendly vehicles.

The German Law on the Corporate Due Diligence Obligations for the Prevent of Human Rights Violations in Supply Chains introduces for the first time the obligation for German companies to comply with certain procedures and rules, implement due diligence obligations and appropriate measures, in supply chains, with the aim of preventing human rights violations and damages to the environment. The mentioned German Law does not have a direct impact on companies in Serbia, so the sanctions prescribed by that Law cannot be enforced in Serbia, however, there is a certain influence on Serbian companies that will need to comply with, for reasons of further cooperation with German companies.

The amendment package includes several minor amendments to help interpreting the text of the Hungarian ESG Act, and the provisions of the ESG Act have been brought into line with the content of the regulations supplementing the provisions of the ESG Act in several places. The amendments entered into force on 19 January 2025.

A draft law proposing changes to Law No. 8116, dated March 29, 1996, “The Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Albania,” has been submitted for approval to the Albanian Assembly. These amendments are part of a comprehensive initiative to enhance the efficiency of the judicial system and improve the overall quality of judicial proceedings in the country.

Poland is becoming more and more interesting for foreigners looking to invest. This is due to Poland’s central location in Central and Eastern Europe and the country’s continuous economic development, making it a place with potential for becoming a focal point for Central European business on the Old Continent.

The Serbian Commission for Protection of Commission ("Commission") has announced that it will conduct a sector inquiry of the state and conditions of competition in the pharmaceutical industry. This move by the Commission was expected, given the announcements made by the Government of the Republic of Serbia last year.

Several amendments to pharmaceutical promotional laws in Hungary came into effect on 1 January 2025, with others following on 1 February 2025. Some of these amendments have long been urged by the pharmaceutical industry.

Conducting legal due diligence on the target company is standard practice before completinga transaction. Even today, eight years after the GDPR came into effect, some companies still fail to implement basic data protection principles in their internal policies or in their relationships with business partners and suppliers. Some even claim not to process any personal data at all.

On 26 December 2024, the Law “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, and Other Legislative Acts of Ukraine to Improve Mechanisms for Holding Legal Entities Accountable for Bribery of Foreign Officials” No. 4111-IX entered into force. It is meant to implement the OECD Council’s Recommendation on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

On 27 June 2024, the Constitutional Court of Serbia issued a Decision initiating proceedings to assess the constitutionality of the Gender Equality Act. This decision implies that all activities undertaken based on the said Act, including executing individual acts and actions, are suspended until a final decision on its constitutionality is rendered.

In this article, we highlight the most relevant changes to Slovenia’s tax laws, from the perspective of corporate income tax, VAT, personal income tax and tax procedure that enter into force on 1 January 2025.

Starting 1 January 2025, only citizens of Georgia and Armenia will be eligible for residence permits for the purpose of employment and guest worker residence permits. This marks a significant tightening of the previous rules, which allowed citizens of 10 countries to obtain guest worker residence permits and had no such restrictions for residence permits for the purpose of employment. Although these changes do not affect currently valid permits, the new rules will apply to all new permit issuances