News (#01-02 January-February 2016)

Cases

German court rejected claim by Poland regarding Nord Stream

A court in the German city of Hamburg has rejected a claim made by Poland for the reconstruction of the section of the Nord Stream gas pipeline that blocks the development of the Polish ports in Szczecin and Świnoujście. At the moment, the gas pipeline is laid at a depth of 16 meters, which allows sailing for ships with a draft of up to 13.5 meters.

It should be recalled that the claim of the Polish party was filed with the court of Hamburg in 2011, and the disputed section of the gas pipeline is situated in German waters. The Polish party refers to European and international legislation, which guarantees the freedom of overseas transportation. Members of the EU Parliament addressed a request to the European Commission condemning the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. In particular, the European Parliament sent a letter to the European Commission with a demand not to support the construction of the gas pipeline.

 

Employer may check social networks of employees in certain cases

The European Court of Human Rights has dismissed a claim from a Romanian engineer regarding his dismissal for posting personal messages on his page in the social network during working hours. Judges of the Minor Chamber of the ECHR arrived at the conclusion that an employer is entitled to check whether its employees performed their official duties at their place of work and did not use the company computer for personal purposes. Checking a page in a social network may be regarded as interference with a person’s private life. However, such a check is justified in this situation.

 

Court lifted an attachment of bank accounts of Neftegazdobycha

The Pechersk District Court of Kiev lifted an attachment of bank accounts of Neftegazdobycha gas-producing company (the majority shareholder is magnate Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK energy holding).

The company produces license zones in two fields in Poltava Region: Semirenkovskiy and Machukhskiy. Proven reserves of natural gas amount to 20 billion cubic meters and 2 million tons of gas condensate.

 

Louis Vuitton filed suit against sale of counterfeit goods via Taobao

The French Fashion House Louis Vuitton has filed a suit against Chinese entrepreneurs that were selling counterfeit products via the online shop Taobao.

The District Court in Beijing noted a statement of claim received on 4 January 2016. A consequence, three businessmen are obliged to pay damages of more than USD 38,000 for illegal use of a trademark.

 

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