Legal & Tax Update
As lawyers and advisors, our main task is to find the best possible solutions for your legal and tax problems. With our LEGAL & TAX UPDATE, we aim to provide you periodically with concise information on the latest developments in our core advisory areas – company, capital market, tax, and intellectual property law. If we are successful in introducing you to new options of optimising your opportunities or avoiding risks, our LEGAL & TAX UPDATE will have achieved its objective. We trust that you will enjoy reading our newsletter.
Newsletter December 2011
DE
2012 heralds a new era for the internet
Practice area: Trademarks, Design and Advertising
From January 2012 nothing on the World Wide Web will be as it once was, as the opportunities for generic top-level domains (TLD) will be unlimited. Those who do not shy away from the financial and administrative burden can have any conceivable combination of letters registered as a TLD. Trademark owners can and must consider if they wish to invest in a TLD with their own brand, and what they will do if someone else is doing this.DE
The new ICC Rules of Arbitration 2012
Practice area: Arbitration and Litigation
The new ICC Rules will come into force on 1 January 2012. The revised Rules provide an answer to the increasing complexity of international disputes. In particular, new provisions on multi-party proceedings, the consolidation of multiple arbitrations and emergency arbitration procedures, which enable parties to request interim measures already prior to the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, have been adopted.DE
The paperless mortgage certificate has arrived
Practice area: Real Estate and Rental Law , Capital Markets, Banking and Finance
The partial revision of the Swiss Civil Code (SCC) per 1 January 2012 introduces a paperless mortgage certificate in the form of the e-registered mortgage certificate. As the paper mortgage certificate in its current form will be retained, the parties will be able to choose their preferred form of mortgage certificate in future. The following provides a summary of the practical advantages of the e-registered mortgage certificate, which can be expected to soon become the norm in the banking sector, in particular due to its simplicity and cost benefits.DE
The proposed introduction of a national inheritance and gift tax and its impact on succession planning
Practice area: Tax Law
A people's initiative proposing the introduction of a Swiss-wide inheritance and gift tax was launched in late summer 2011. The adoption of this initiative by the Swiss population and cantons would have a significant impact on succession planning by entrepreneurs.DE
Partial revision of the Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes
Practice area: Capital Markets, Banking and Finance
The main objective of the partial revision of the Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes is to improve the protection afforded to investors and to uphold the quality and competitiveness of the Swiss asset management sector. The amendments to the law shall close existing gaps in the regulations on the management, custody and selling of collective investment schemes and shall bring the state’s supervisory practice for managers of collective investment schemes in line with international standards.DE
Apple vs Samsung: A "preliminary win" for the iPad design
Practice area: Trademarks, Design and Advertising
A decisison by the District Court Düsseldorf declaring that Samsung's tablet infringes Apple's iPad design registration underlines the growing importance of design law, which, after having been comprehensively revised both in the EU and in Switzerland, offers a powerful alternative to classic patent law when it comes to the protection of technical products.