Category: Startups and Scaleups

September 16, 2024

Hiring employees from non-EU countries in Bulgaria – practical guidance for businesses

The industry is growing and the number of applicants for new vacancies often does not match the new needs. Therefore, the issue of hiring foreigners from non-EU countries is becoming more and more relevant. It doesn’t matter whether your business is a factory with a large assembly line, a maintenance workshop for machines of various kinds, a kitchen or a restaurant, or whether you deal with transport and logistics.

The Single Residence and Work Permit is the document that can help you and your business fill the necessary employee needs by seeking and hiring workers from third countries. However, the process of issuing it is specific and has its own bureaucratic complexities.

Come to Inter Expo Center, Hall 6, on October 3 to learn about the process, as well as where the pitfalls are and how to avoid them. The presentation will take place as part of the MachTech & Innotech Expo supporting programme and will start at 3pm. You will hear concise practical guidance on the process and have the opportunity to ask your questions.

The Single Residence and Work permit is very convenient for employers, because it enables them to secure both the right to reside and work with one procedure, as the name suggests. Other mechanisms have two separate procedures, which complicates the process considerably. Furthermore, in this case, the permit is valid for up to 3 years and is tied to the employer. This allows for relatively stable and long-term workforce planning.

Keep an eye on the event pages here and on Facebook and LinkedIn for details. The presentation will be held in Bulgarian.

The event is part of the supporting program of MachTech & Innotech Expo. All exhibitors and visitors who have purchased tickets have access to the programme. Details about the exhibition can be found at: https://machtech.bg/.

Learn More

June 26, 2024

Att. Ivan Yankov is now officially listed as a mediator

The managing partner of YNG Legal Attorney-at-law Ivan Yankov was just officially listed as a mediator in the The Unified Register of Mediators of the Minister of Justice of Bulgaria.

Besides being a qualified lawyer with many years of experience and a licensed intellectual property appraiser, Att. Yankov has also undergone special training in mediation.

Ivan is the second mediator colleague in the team after associate Iveta Ivanova, who was already certified when she joined the team.

We would especially like to thank Academy “Sporazumeniya” (Agreements) and Sevdalina Alexandrova – one of the founders and teachers at the Academy. Not only was the training filled with meaningful content, but the process was easy and purposeful.

Mediation is a way to reach a mutually beneficial agreement, within or outside of court proceedings. This process is conducted by a mediator – a third party neutral to the dispute, who aims to assist the disputing parties in reaching the optimal resolution of the issues in question. Mediators, in addition to being good intermediaries, need to be specially trained and selected before they are officially registered.

The listing of Att. Ivan Yankov in the Unified Register of Mediators is a testimony to his high level of training in various areas of law and its accompanying activities. Anyone who chooses to try to reach a settlement can do so with the help of Att. Yankov.

Learn More

June 4, 2024

The new AI Office brings the AI Act one step closer

Will it bring more bureaucracy or will it ease the compliance process?

The artificial intelligence (AI) sector is booming. More and more tools for various purposes and on various scales from ones for end-users to those tailored for large-scale enterprises are emerging and growing with a fast pace. Recently the European Union introduced a full-spectre legislation called the AI Act, covering every important aspect of the sector with the aim of not only guaranteeing human rights but also encouraging and nourishing innovation in the sector.

Now the European Commission (EC) established the AI Office which will oversee the observing of that legislation. The EC states that the goal is to enable the future development, deployment and use of AI in a way that fosters societal and economic benefits and innovation, while mitigating the eventual risks. The AI Office will have a vital role in the implementation of the AI Act and it will also work to foster research and innovation in trustworthy AI. The EC also states that the AI Office will aim to position the EU as a leader in international discussions on the topic.

Structure of the AI Office

The AI Office will consist of five units overseeing different key aspects of AI:

Regulation and Compliance Unit – this unit works closely with member states to facilitate the uniform application and enforcement of the AI Act across the Union. It will also contribute to investigations and possible infringements, administering sanctions;

AI safety Unit – responsible for the identification of systemic risks of very capable general-purpose models, possible mitigation measures as well as evaluation and testing approaches;

Excellence in AI and Robotics Unit – responsible for building a thriving ecosystem by supporting and funding research and development. It also coordinates the GenAI4EU initiative (robotics, health, biotech and other fields), stimulating the development of models and their integration into innovative applications;

AI for Societal Good Unit – deals with crucial topics such as weather modelling, cancer diagnoses and digital twins for reconstruction;

AI Innovation and Policy Coordination Unit – oversees the execution of the EU AI strategy, monitors trends and investment, stimulating the uptake of AI and fosters an innovative ecosystem by supporting regulatory sandboxes and real-world testing.

Tasks ahead of the AI Office

The staff of the AI Office is interdisciplinary and consists of experts in technology, administration, economics, law and politics. They will help member states govern the implementation of the AI Act in order to ensure the process is coherent across the block. The AI Office will also directly enforce rules for general-purpose AI models, request information, apply sanctions and will coordinate the creation of “state-of-the-art codes of practice” by working with developers and scientists.

The AI Office will work not only with member states representatives in the so-called European Artificial Intelligence Board, but also with independent experts in science, business, civil society and other fields.

The new administrative body will also work to promote innovation by providing advice and information, and by giving access to different environments and services for experimentation. It will also work to stimulate investment by ensuring that AI models created in Europe and trained on EU supercomputers are well integrated into the economy.

The AI Act

The so-called AI Act was introduced in May 2024 making the EU a pioneer in regulating this field. The new regulation aims to ensure safety and compliance with fundamental rights and also boost innovation. The AI Act follows a risk-based approach – the higher the risk to society, the stricter the rules. That exact regulation is the legal framework the AI Office will be responsible for enforcing.

You can read more details about the AI Act and how it affects different actors in the field in our article here.

We are here to support you!

YNG Legal takes care to always be up to date with not only official regulations, but with emerging trends in law, innovation and business. We approach every case diligently and proactively. That is also what we advise our clients – to take proactive action and not wait until it is too late and thus risk administrative or other penalties.

Reach out to us today and get your consultation about AI regulation compliance!

Learn More

March 20, 2024

The AI Act: Preserving civic rights or hindering innovation in the EU?

The first set of regulatory frameworks aiming at responding to the new challenges this technology brings

In recent years artificial intelligence tools of various applications and scales became more and more included in our life. And the faster the technology developed, the more present and available it became outside of specific industries and big corporations. To a point of a commercial boom so wide, that such AI tools swiftly reached small and medium enterprises (SME) and end-customers en mass.

This quick and wide spread of a technology which evolves every day inevitably brought threads to information, personal data, intellectual property, jobs, businesses, human rights. That is why the European union moved to regulate artificial intelligence.

The AI Act’s aim

On 13 March The European Parliament adopted the first amendments to the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence the so-called Artificial Intelligence Act.

The new regulation aims to ensure safety and compliance with fundamental rights and also boost innovation.

According to the first recital the purpose of this legislation is to:

“improve the functioning of the internal market by laying down a uniform legal framework in particular for the development, placing on the market, putting into service and the use of artificial intelligence systems in the Union in conformity with Union values, to promote the uptake of human centric and trustworthy artificial intelligence while ensuring a high level of protection of health, safety, fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter, including democracy and rule of law and environmental protection, against harmful effects of artificial intelligence systems in the Union and to support innovation.”

Whom will the AI Act apply to?

Providers
- placing on the market or putting into service AI systems or
- placing on the market general-purpose AI models in the Union, irrespective of whether those providers are established or who are located within the Union or in a third country.

Deployers of AI systems that have their place of establishment or who are located within the Union.
Providers and deployers of AI systems that have their place of establishment or who are located in a third country, where the output produced by the system is used in the Union.
Importers and distributors of AI systems.
Product manufacturers placing on the market or putting into service an AI system together with their product and under their own name or trademark;
authorised representatives of providers, which are not established in the Union;
affected persons that are located in the Union.

What does the AI Act actually regulate?

The new regulation works in several directions to protect the interests of EU citizens and businesses.

The AI Act defines AI applications which pose a significant threat and completely bans them, such as certain cases of biometric categorisation, emotion recognition, social scoring, predictive policing, manipulation of human behaviour or exploitation of people’s vulnerabilities.
It provides an exception for strictly and narrowly defined situations in which biometric categorisation could be used by law enforcement only if strict safeguards are met: such as limited use in time and geographic scope and prior judicial or administrative authorisation.
The Act defines and regulates high-risk systems, for example AI uses in critical infrastructure, education and vocational training, employment, essential private and public services (e.g. healthcare, banking), certain systems in law enforcement, migration and border management, justice and democratic processes (e.g. influencing elections). It also gives citizens the right to submit complaints about AI systems and receive explanations about decisions based on high-risk AI systems that affect their rights.
The regulation imposes transparency requirements, including compliance with EU copyright law and publishing detailed summaries of the content used for training. Artificial or manipulated images, audio or video content (“deepfakes”) will need to be clearly labelled as such. Systems posing systemic risks will need to undergo additional evaluations.
The AI Act also requires measures at the national level to ensure SMEs and start-ups have a healthy environment to develop and train innovative AI before its placement on the market.

What’s next?

The development of The AI Act took 3 years until it reached this point. Now the final Regulation needs to be formally adopted by both European Council and European Parliament before its publication to the Official Journal of the European Union. After the adoption from the European Parliament, the European Council is expected to adopt in due time the text without further changes or negotiations as the two institutions reached a deal on the Regulation at the beginning of December last year.

The European Union is thus becoming a global pioneer in the regulation of the artificial intelligence sector, as happened a few years ago with the regulation of personal data. Since the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU, similar regulations have been introduced elsewhere in the world.

The new legislation enters into force 20 days after its publication in the official Journal and should fully apply from 2026. Yet there are some exceptions:

bans on prohibited practises will apply 6 months after the entry into force date;
codes of practise – 9 months after entry into force;
general-purpose AI rules including governance – 12 months;
and obligations for high-risk systems – 36 months.

Only the time will tell to what extent and how the new Regulation will face the many challenges the AI technology brings to the legislative and economic landscape within the member states of the European Union. Our team will analyse and stay up do date with the new set of rules making sure your business needs comply with the Regulation. We are committed to help companies navigate through the complexities of the European Union’s legal landscape.

If you work in the field of AI, do not hesitate to get in touch and prepare your business ahead of time for the new legislation before its mandatory provisions kick-in.

Learn More

November 13, 2023

MiCA: New set of recommendations for cryptocurrency regulation in the EU

MiCA aims to regulate the crypto-asset market in the EU, similarly to that of traditional financial instruments, ensuring transparency and preventing abuse.

Learn More

June 6, 2023

№1 easy way to get a single patent across the EU…

Good news for tech and innovative companies. But what is the risk?

A new Unitary Patent system was launched in the European Union on June 1, 2023. It introduces a new European jurisdiction for patent cases called the Unified Patent Court or UPC. The UPC will handle cases of alleged patent infringement as well as patent revocation proceedings.

Until now, obtaining a patent grant from the European Patent Office (EPO) meant only that the proprietor had the right to validate this patent in each member-state individually to obtain actual patent protection for their invention. This required every person who wished to obtain patent coverage in all 27 states to go through a validation procedure in each country separately.

The Unitary Patent system aims to lighten this burden on the business by providing for acquiring a singular patent valid and enforceable across the EU, without resorting to national patent offices.

Existing European patents which are validated in separate EU countries (also called “bundle patents”) will also fall under the jurisdiction of the UPC unless an opt-out is filed.

The UPC allows patent holders to seek protection of their EU patents in a single place, without having to seek local counsel for each national jurisdiction and have multiple simultaneous proceedings in different countries for one act of infringement. However, it also allows third parties to challenge bundle patents at the UPC and potentially invalidate them across Europe with a single court ruling.

This development is important, for example, for the tech and medical industries, as well as all businesses whose model is based on a strong intellectual property (IP) portfolio. It promises to lighten the bureaucratic burden and provide new opportunities but also introduces new risks to IP-oriented companies.

The new Unitary Patent and Court system will be of significance to you if your business, for example, is (but not limited to):

The UPC is a new institution and hence it lacks established practice, which introduces a degree of uncertainty. Under the prior system where national authorities and courts ruled on patent prosecution cases, there were different opinions adopted by each country’s office in similar cases. The UPC is expected to unify the practice of patent infringement proceedings, but its approach remains to be seen. Until practice accumulates there is a chance that certain cases might be treated unfavorably in regard to the rightful patent holder.

Depending on the value and strength of the patents you or your company own, there might be different approaches to this new development.

If you are certain that your patent is “strong” (it is sufficiently distinct and inventive – such as a new language-based AI model) and it is unlikely that it can be successfully challenged, the UPC provides a great opportunity to protect the patent against infringement and bring forth proceedings against any third party located in the EU without having to resort to different national authorities in each member country.
However, if you are not confident in the strength of your patent, or if it represents great value to your business (such as the patent covering your main product – for example, a new type of 3D printer, VR device, etc.), it might be better to minimize the risk of invalidation by opting out of the UPC. Bundle patents can be challenged before the UPC and unvalidated across all national jurisdictions which can have tough consequences for the IP portfolio of your business. Persisting with the current fragmented system can thus be a tool to limit this risk as your bundle patent would need to be separately challenged in each national jurisdiction separately, increasing your chances of maintaining a level of patent protection for your products.

However, in practice every business is different, and this requires a personalized approach and timely action. To ensure the higher survivability of your patents, and to minimize the risk of invalidation, YNG Legal’s team offers customized support based on thorough analysis. The quicker you act the lower the chance for your patents to be challenged on an international level.

Get in touch with us now to protect your patents. Send us a request on yankov@ynglegal.com.

Learn More