The Legal 500

This article tries to shed light on an important area of trade mark law in connection with a decision recently handed down by the European Court of First Instance (the "CFI"), more specifically with respect to the complex question of similarity between marks and confusion of the public. This question is naturally an issue of fact and evidence and is - to a large extent - imbued with subjectivity. Therefore, new cases brought before the courts always have to be assessed afresh, taking all the surrounding circumstances into consideration, and the outcome can at times be surprising, even for experienced trade mark lawyers.

TRANSFER BY THE EMPLOYER OF EMPLOYEES' PERSONAL DATA TO THE US FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HUNGARIAN DATA PROTECTION LAWS: In this article, we briefly address the issue of what requirements prescribed by Hungarian laws on data protection must be complied with by an employer that wishes to transfer the personal data of its employees to the United States.

The Supreme Court's decision in this Sopron underground parking lot case has been one of the hottest topics in the legal playing field in the past few months. We briefly discuss the decision below, and describe a possible way to solve the problems it has raised.

The Act XCVI of 2008 (hereinafter the: “Act”) on the amendment of Act V of 2006 on the Public Company Information, Company Registration and Winding-up Proceedings and on the modification of other statutes in respect to the publication of the annual report and the Sectoral Classification of Economic Activities entered into force on December 27, 2008.

The main purpose of the amendment of several pieces of legislation affecting the arranged labour relations is to make the regulation simpler, and to make it more transparent and easier to apply. Most of the newly introduced provisions entered into force on 1 June 2009.

New provisions shall apply for the Annual Reports to be submitted after 1 May 2009. The new provisions are prescribed by Act XCVI of 2008 on the modification of the Company Registration Act on the deposition and publication of the Annual Reports submitted in compliance with the Accounting Act. The relevant provisions of Act XCII of 2003 on the Rules of Taxation were modified simultaneously. The purpose of the modifications is on the one hand that the submitted annual reports shall become public as soon as possible, on the other hand that a more effective control mechanism and sanctioning shall apply for the companies, which fail to submit their annual report.

On March 23, 2009, the Hungarian Parliament passed the bill amending Act No. 57 of 1996 on the Prohibition of Unfair Trading Practices and Unfair Competition (hereinafter: “Competition Act”). The amendment entered into force on June 1, 2009, and affects the following areas:

A practical insight to cross-border Environment Law

A practical insight to cross-border Product Liability work

RECENT CHANGES TO EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATIONIN HUNGARYby Prague / Bratislava / Budapest www.prkpartners.com Legislative changes concerning the Hungarian Labour Code and the rules pertaining to the protection of workers’ safety and health Effective as of January 1, 2009 significant legislative measures were adopted by the Hungarian Parliament concerning several labour-related issues. Specifically, the new Act, bearing the number LXI. of 2008, amended various provisions of Act XXII. of 1992 on the Hungarian Labour Code and the rules pertaining to the protection of workers’ safety and health governed by Act No. XCIII of 1993. The amendments serve two main purposes. By refining the implementation of the relevant EC Directives the amendments seek to introduce more flexible and market friendly provisions regarding annual leave, work on national holidays and also enhances the provisions relating to workers’ safety.