This article focuses on the analysis of the main positions of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania in the cases of intellectual property law. In the article three judgments and the positions of the Constitutional Court extracted therefrom are analysed. The Constitutional Court has formed several important positions with reference to intellectual property law regarding usage of property protection norms for the protection of intellectual property, requirements of application of compensation as an alternative to damages compensation and the (...) calculation of criterions thereof as well as functional legal protection of trademarks. It should be noted that Article 23(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania has extended protection to property and, as the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania has noted, the constitutional protection of property covers not only the protection of tangible, but also of intellectual property. In the same judgment, the Constitutional Court stated another important intellectual property related rule, namely that constitutionally established property protection rights have to be implemented regardless of whether a corresponding international treaty has not been ratified, as protection of authors’ rights is granted under Articles 23 and 42(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. However, the second position stating that the rights of foreign subjects are to be implemented even though a corresponding international treaty has not been signed is to be criticised as by coming to such a conclusion the Constitutional Court has ignored the otherwise generally recognised principle of territoriality of intellectual property rights. In two other cases the Constitutional Court has made important statements relevant to intellectual property law. First of all, the Court stated that compensation instead of claiming actual damages is constitutional. By analysing the positions formulated by the Court, an indirect conclusion can be made to the effect that compensation instead of claiming actual damages is necessary in order to ensure effective protection of intellectual property rights. In other words, the purposes of compensation can be recognised: restoring (compensating) the infringed interests of the injured party; simplifying judicial proceedings, whereby faster proceedings (litigation) and easier substantiation is sought; and the preventive purpose (strong preventive effect). However, the Court’s argument regarding the criterion of compensation calculation, saying that the damages incurred by the intellectual property rights owner depend on the sale value of the product concerned is criticisable, as it is rarely the case that the licence fee or profit acquired in the result of unauthorised use of intellectual property objects is calculated with reference to the final sale price of the product. Notwithstanding the arguably weak argument of the Court, the Court’s position regarding the criterion of final sale price itself does not preclude the possibility of reaching a fair final decision. Finally, the Court acknowledged that trademark protection was limited to the economic functions of the trademark and the full protection thereof. (shrink)

This article discusses the problematic aspects relating to the employee privacy in his workplace and its limits reacting to employer‘s interests. It contains analysis of National, European and transatlantic legislation of privacy in the workplace and concentrates on the electronic privacy (e-mails, communications, etc.). The article is based on legal acts and judgements of the Supreme court of Lithuania, European Court of Human Rights and other countries courts judgements in order to provide the legislative execution practice as well as reveal (...) the problems in this field of labour law. (shrink)

The article deals with the issue of initial impossibility of performance of an obligation and the influence of such impossibility of performance on the validity of the legal transaction that establishes such an obligation. The legal doctrine convincingly demonstrates that for Roman lawyers the rule Impossitionbilium nulla obligatio est merely meant that nobody can be obliged to perform something that cannot be performed; however, it did not necessarily follow that a contract establishing such an obligation was void. Modern civil codifications (...) overlook another significant feature of the Roman law – the uncontested application of the principle Impossibilium nulla obligatio est only in case of stipulatio, whereas modern contract law has its origins in the Roman law of consensual contracts. (shrink)

Kadangi šiandieninė visuomenė yra laikoma kūnu, socialines problemas reikėtų apibrėžti atitinkamai kaip higienos ir švaros problemas. Šiuo atžvilgiu daugybė zombių lavonų vaizdavimo atvejų zombių filmografijoje gali būti suvokiami kaip konkretūs grėsmės bei ligos suvokimo pavyzdžiai. Šiame straipsnyje teigiama, kad zombių atvaizdai kine turi teigiamo potencialo žmonijos socialiniam gyvenimui, o šis potencialas apibūdinamas kaip nauja galimybė susidurti su absoliučia kitybe. Šiame kontekste nagrinėjami filmai „Po 28savaičių“ (angl. „28 Weeks Later“), „Pasaulinis karas Z“ (angl. „The World War Z“) bei „Naujoji karta Z“ (...) (angl. „The Girl with All the Gifts“) iškeliant mintį, kad būtent užkratas ir kitybė įgalina žmonijos emancipaciją. Vietoj kapitalistinės racionalizacijos griovimo nepasiūlant jokių alternatyvų, zombių lavonai skelbia naujos socialinės formos gimimą, kuris tyrinėjamas pasitelkiant filmą „Puikybė ir prietarai, ir zombiai“ (angl. „Pride and Prejudice and Zombies“). (shrink)

Forced expropriations of immovable property were common during the Communist era in Eastern Europe. Today, many of the former owners or their heirs are interested in regaining legal ownership of such properties, often decades after the ownership has been reallocated to others. Therefore, the conflict between old and new owners is often resolved in favour of the new owners. While this is understandable from a contemporary political perspective, this approach results in a perpetuation of the results of an earlier human (...) rights violation, thereby resulting in a new human rights violation which will have to be measured against the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if the state in question has ratified it prior to deciding how to handle the long-term effects of expropriations. Firstly, in the article we will devote ourselves to the interpretation of the right to property with an emphasis on the problem of expropriation. Above all, we will elaborate on the definition of the term “property” as well as positive and negative obligations of the Member States regarding this right. Finally, we will address the question of expropriations prior to the entry into force of the Convention and just compensation under Article 41 ECHR. Interpretation of the right to property will be supported by the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. (shrink)

Private copying exception is an exception to copyright which is present both in Lithuanian national law and law of the European Union. Recent jurisprudence of Court of Justice of the European Union interpreted legal regulation of private copying exception in the laws of the European Union. The mentioned jurisprudence raised concern whether Lithuanian copyright laws on private copying exception and their interpretation in case law of Supreme Court of Lithuania are compatible with the European Union law. This paper analyses the (...) nature and intention of private copying exception, its reflection in Lithuanian and European copyright law and evaluates Lithuanian laws and case law in the light of recent jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The authors conclude that recent jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union on private copying exception shall not lead to any dramatic or substantial changes of Lithuanian national copyright laws. (shrink)

Recent major amendments of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania have added new and improved older procedural instruments that may be used for reimbursement of losses inflicted by the abuse of process. The law now clearly states that the court may take into account improper conduct of the participants when deciding on distribution of litigation costs. A fine in favour of the party aggrieved by the abuse may also be imposed. Therefore, in this article the authors (...) analyse litigation costs and private fine as measures to reimburse losses caused by the abuse of civil procedure. The authors argue that litigation costs can be a fairly effective and relatively easy-to-use procedural instrument, which might not only prevent procedural abuses, but also compensate losses inflicted by it that falls within the category of litigation costs. Therefore, changes to the statutory legislation, expressly empowering a court to deviate from general rules of distributing and awarding litigation costs, by taking into account the propriety of the party’s actions in a procedure and causes that have given rise to those litigation costs, are welcomed. (shrink)