Software is becoming the main part of an increasingly amount of products set on the market; a trend which will become more and more evident in the years to come. This fact challenges the legal landscape and interpretation of product liability laws, and contract makers must pay attention to potential new risks imposed on the parties. If a product causes damages to a third party, complex questions may arise with respect to liability and the chain of causation ...
To protect and stimulate creators to increase innovation and encourage entrepreneurship, Norwegian authorities are changing the law. In 2018 we received several proposals towards strengthening the rights of those who create new ideas or build their business on intellectual property. Looking back at 2018, we see a year in which the Norwegian intellectual property (IP) legislation has been in movement. Technology is developing fast, and so must the law protecting technology ...
There was considerable anticipation regarding whether the negotiations would be successfully concluded during this meeting. Without an agreement, there was a risk of significant delays in the adoption of the framework. This was undesirable for EU institutions that have invested considerable prestige in leading the regulation of AI globally. Read more about the most contentious issues leading up to the last negotiation meeting in this article ...
The Norwegian Government today, ahead of presenting the revised budget for 2023, announced postponed implementation of resource rent tax on onshore wind power. The proposal for a resource rent tax was sent for consultation on 16th December 2022, with the deadline set for 15th March 2023. The initial plan was to implement the tax from 2023, but the effective date is now under review, partly due to feedback received during the consultation period ...
Following the implementation of significant restrictions on the ability to hire personnel from staffing enterprises, the scope of discretion available to employers in terms of temporary staffing has become a central issue. One important exception to the prohibition against temporary staffing is found in the so-called specialist exception ...
Resource rent tax on aquaculture The government proposes to introduce a resource rent tax on aquaculture from 1st of January 2023. The proposal will be circulated for consultation today with a deadline of 3rd of January 2023. The proposal includes a resource rent tax with an effective rate of 40% applicable to the production of salmon, trout, and rainbow trout. The proposal includes a tax-free allowance of between 4,000 and 5,000 tonnes ...
The authorities have been quick to publish public procurement law guidance for the Covid-19 crisis. In this article we argue that Norwegian authorities could have provided even more clear guidance on what is to be considered at the crossroad between public procurement law and the protection of life and health. The exceptional Covid-19 crisis has given contracting authorities new and unforeseen challenges ...
By imposing the obligations, the regulation aims to end unfair practices and conduct which is harmful to competition and end users by the companies acting as gatekeepers in the online platform economy. Under the DMA, a firm will be considered as a designated gatekeeper if three criteria are met. First, the company must have a significant impact on the European market which is determined by the company’s turnover ...
After a particularly active consultation round with approx. 140 consultation responses, together with the proposal for the national budget for 2024, the government presented a revised proposal today, 6 October 2023. The criticism from a relatively united renewables industry must be said to have fallen on relatively deaf ears and the proposal is essentially a continuation of the consultation proposal ...
All contract legislation in Norway specifies time limits for filing a complaint. Put very simply, a complaint in this context is the process whereby a party to an agreement complains about a defect and asserts a claim within a defined time limit. Once the specified time limit has expired, the right to bring the claim will be lost. The logic behind the rules on complaints is that the parties to an agreement must be able to define the end point of, for example, a sale or delivery ...
Prior to the entry into force of the FDI Screening Regulation on 11 October 2020, there was no EU-wide formalized cooperation among the Member States and the European Commission on these matters. In the EU, the European Commission’s strong expectation is that all 27 EU Member States will put national FDI screening mechanisms in place. A national screening mechanism in all 27 Member States serves to safeguard all individual Member States against potentially risky foreign investments ...
The core question of the doctor list case was whether online sharing of user reviews of health professionals on the Norwegian website «Legelisten.no» was necessary to ensure the freedom of expression and the public’s need for information. Furthermore, the Supreme Court had to decide whether those interests outweighed the privacy interests of the persons being reviewed ...
Shipowners often face the decision as to which flag they should fly on their vessel. Several factors may influence the choice of flag. The shipowner's decision as to which flag they should fly on their vessel must be made when an owner is: registering a new build; changing flag in connection with a sale and purchase transaction; or concluding a bareboat contract ...
On 17 February 2020, we wrote our first notes on the effect of the virus on shipping. Since then, both the outbreak as well as the measures against it are spreading wider. Link to our first article about the Covid-19 and its impact on Shipping. We have received numerous queries from our clients and have assisted in establishing management plans for situations ranging from chartering, to shipbuilding and sale and purchase through to notices to master and crew on board ...
So called ‘direct agreements’ in the context of debt financing, has the main purpose of establishing a direct contractual relationship between a lender and the borrower’s counterparties for the purpose of enabling the lender to gain control over the borrower’s contracts. Direct agreements are most common for project financings and other facilities where the value of the assets being financed at large depend on the borrower’s contracts. Examples are e.g ...
With ‘financial assistance’ in this context, we refer to assistance granted by a company in connection with the purchase of the shares in that company or its parent company. The most common example is that a company grants a guarantee or security in connection with the purchaser’s financing of the purchase price for the acquisition of shares in the company ...
What is it? A group account system (Nw: konsernkonto) («GAS«) is a technical solution a bank may offer its customers that simplifies the process for lending amounts within the customer’s group. It can be a useful tool for managing and controlling the liquidity in the group and ensuring flexibility for allocating liquidity within the various participating group members ...
The London Interbank Offered Rate («LIBOR«) is arguably the financial world’s most important number; it is a proxy for banks’ marginal funding costs and serves as benchmark rate in millions of loans, floating-rate debt, and financial contracts. The publication of the LIBOR will in all likelihood, cease by the end of 2021. The shift from LIBOR is an immense change to global finance and will have far-reaching impacts on the financial services industry ...
Contrary to what is the case in many jurisdictions, in Norway the business activity of lending is subject to strict licensing requirements. Only certain financial institutions are eligible for a license permitting them to conduct the business of lending in Norway ...
Norway has acceded to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and its Protocol on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment (the «CTC»). The CTC has been implemented and given effect under Norwegian law as of 1 April 2011. It is still possible to register security interests over an aircraft with the Norwegian Civil Aircraft Registry («NCAR») ...
Buyers’ Default Clause 13 of Saleform 2012 regulates Buyers’ default. The potential Buyers’ defaults are quite restricted to payment defaults. There are no Buyers’ default linked to failure to take over the Vessel (like you often find in shipbuilding contracts) or failure to provide the agreed documents. Nor is it likely that a Buyer will pay for the Vessel but not accept physical delivery ...
The Chambers Global Guide ranks law firms and lawyers in more than 200 jurisdictions in selected disciplines. All subject areas are part of Chambers Europe, published in March. SVW is ranked within Banking and Finance, Corporate M&A, Oil and Gas, Dispute Resolution, and International & Cross Border Capabilities. SVW has two new lawyers entering the rankings, Sunniva Kinsella and Mathias Teir, as up and coming, as well as defending last year’s placements ...
We are delighted that Peter Aall Simonsen, Bjørn-Erik Leerberg and Bjørn Åge Hamre have strenghten their individual rankings with respectively Band 2 within Energy: Renewables, Band 3 within Energy: Oil and Gas, and Restructuring/Insolvency ...
Merger control is an integral part of competition law. The Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA) enforces the Norwegian merger control rules. Notification to the NCA is compulsory before closing and implementing all mergers and acquisitions that bring about a structural «change of control» in the market and exceed the national turnover thresholds ...
In the guide, Chambers notes: «I choose to work with them because they are the most active in the scale-up and startup community; they have compassion for new market entrants; and are passionate and know all the domain experts for money and payment institutions.»» says an interviewee. Another interviewee adds: «They are able to quickly understand the technological, economical, and legal aspects ...
