Publications

Israel’s Privacy Protection Law Amendment: A Landmark Reform in Data Protection and Privacy Rights
By: Adv. Assaf Kriel (L.L.B, M.B.A, C.I.A, IntArb) AK & Co. (Israel) The Israeli privacy protection landscape has undergone its most significant transformation since 1981 with the recent approval of Amendment 13 to the Privacy Protection Law by the Knesset on...

Israeli Patent Office Issues Landmark Decision on Design Rights: Cotton Candy Machine Case Sets Critical Precedent
By: Adv. Assaf Kriel (L.L.B, M.B.A, C.I.A, IntArb) AK & Co. (Israel) The Israeli Patent Office (ILPTO) has recently delivered a significant ruling by invalidating two registered designs (Case Nos. 63960 and 63961) related to cotton candy machines, establishing a...

The Impact of Israeli Supreme Court’s Landmark Decision on International E-commerce: A New Era in Consumer Protection and Choice of Law
In a groundbreaking decision that significantly impacts international e-commerce and consumer protection, the Supreme Court of Israel has established a decisive precedent regarding the application of Israeli law to class actions against global corporations operating online platforms targeting Israeli consumers. The ruling in Civil Appeal 6992/22 AGODA COMPANY Pte. Ltd v. Tzvia fundamentally reshapes the landscape of international private law and consumer protection in the digital age.

HOW TO EMPLOY NON-EEA NATIONALS IN HUNGARY? PART III – THE EMPLOYMENT OF HIGHLY COMPETENT EMPLOYEES
In the last two parts of our series introducing the new legal framework of the employment of third-country nationals in Hungary we dealt with the basic types, the procedural rules, and the details of employing “ordinary workers”. In this last part of our article series, we share the detailed rules for employing highly competent employees.
Smartlegal Schmidt&Partners reports from Hungary:

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY BY SURPRISE CLAUSES? - DECISION OF THE HUNGARIAN SUPREME COURT
Surprise clauses are general contract terms which differ significantly from customary contract practice or from legal provisions governing contract law. Can the user of a general contract term limit its liability by a surprise clause? Can a surprise clause become a standard clause by way of established practice between the parties? What constitutes an established practice? In this article, we analyse a recent decision of the Hungarian Supreme Court which examined these questions in detail.
ILF’s Hungarian member, Smartlegal Schmidt&Partners summarizes this issue in the article.

HOW TO EMPLOY NON-EEA NATIONALS IN HUNGARY? PART II – THE EMPLOYMENT OF ORDINARY WORKERS
After introducing the types of residence permits for employment purposes in our previous article, this time we will examine in detail the forms of employing “ordinary workers” in Hungary based on the new legal environment. By “ordinary workers” we mean workers who do not belong to the category of highly competent employees, which will be discussed in the next part of this series.
Smartlegal Schmidt&Partners reports from Hungary:

HOW TO EMPLOY NON-EEA NATIONALS IN HUNGARY? PART I – RESIDENCE TITLES AND PROCEDURAL RULES
In the first quarter of 2024, the Hungarian lawmaker created a completely new legal environment for the employment of third-country nationals and introduced special residence titles. We will introduce the new legal regime in a series of articles, the first part of which will cover the types of residence permits for employment purposes and the procedural rules.
Smartlegal Schmidt&Partners reports from Hungary:

CAN A COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT BYPASS THE GDPR’S PRINCIPLES? – THE CJEU DECIDED
Multinational company groups often use unified ERP software which frequently involve processing employee data. In such cases, it may be necessary to transfer personal data to a non-EU based country and the legal basis of the transfer might be a collective agreement. But how far does the contractual freedom of the parties to a collective agreement extend? Can the general principles of the GDPR be circumvented? In our article, we analysed the recent decision of the CJEU which provides an answer to this question.
CRIMINAL LAW UPDATE: LEGAL NOTICES VIA WHATSAPP NOT PERMISSIBLE, RULES SUPREME COURT
The Supreme Court in Satendra Kumar Anil v. Central Bureau of Investigation has reiterated that notices under Section 41-A of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (“CrPC”), and Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (“BNSS”), cannot be served through WhatsApp or any other electronic messaging platforms.
Israel and GDPR: A New Era of Privacy Regulation
In 2024, Israel became the latest jurisdiction to introduce comprehensive privacy legislation, drawing significant inspiration from the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). On August 5, 2024, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, approved...