Racine assists Orange Bank on its acquisition of Anytime

Anthony Van der Hauwaert — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 11:06:27 +0000

Racine assists Orange Bank on its acquisition of Anytime, a neobank dedicated to independent professionals, small businesses and associations.

A forerunner in mobile banking in the consumer market, Orange Bank is pursuing, thanks to this acquisition, its development strategy with a customer base close to that of the telecom operator by extending its banking offer to the professional and corporate market. The group’s ambition is to democratise the financial management of SMEs and SOHOs and Anytime is one of the top three neobanks in this market in France.

As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Orange Bank, Anytime will benefit from the strength of the Orange brand among SMEs and SOHOs that will enable it to scale-up its commercial reach and enhance its range of solutions for professionals. Orange plans to gradually roll out Anytime’s services beyond France, in other European countries where Orange Bank is present. The group also plans to conduct experiments to broaden the distribution channels for its offers, which are currently subscribed to from the Anytime application or on its website.

Orange Bank was advised by Racine Paris and Brussels with a team composed of :

Jean-Christophe Beaury (Paris), Anthony Van der Hauwaert (Brussels), partners, Caroline Hazout-Nakache (Paris) and Sien Vermeesch (Brussels), attorneys, on M&A ;
David Masson, partner, and Sonia Oudjhani-Rogez, attorneys, regulatory (Paris) ;
Xavier Rollet, partner, and Valérie Gin-Boyer, counsel, on tax matters (Paris) ;
Eric Barbry (Paris), Stijn Claeys (Brussels), partners, and Arne Baert (Brussels), attorney, on IP-IT.

More info at:
https://www.orange.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2021/orange-bank-expands-further-acquisition-anytime-neobank-dedicated

The post Racine assists Orange Bank on its acquisition of Anytime first appeared on Racine.

BREXIT: WHAT ABOUT THE PROTECTION OF YOUR TRADEMARKS AND DESIGNS?

sclaeys — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 20:23:25 +0000

On 31 December 2020, the transitional period as agreed in the EU-U.K. Withdrawal Agreement expired. Brexit was formally implemented as off 1 January 2021.
During this transitional period, all EU trademarks remained valid in the territory of the United Kingdom.
After 1 January 2021, European trademarks and designs lose their effect over the territory of the United Kingdom.
Nevertheless, the Withdrawal Agreement stipulates that after 1 January 2021 the EU trademarks and designs are converted free of charge, automatically and without additional examination into a “similar registered and enforceable trademark in the United Kingdom”, which has “the same formal and material characteristics”. Thus, the period of the protection offered by the originally registered EU trademark or design will remain the same (remaining) period of ten or five years, but renewal applications for trademark and design protection on UK territory will in future have to be filed with the UK Intellectual Property Office.
Your existing EU trademark is thus for the time being automatically and without any charge or formality included in the UK Trade Mark Register. (hyperlink: https://www.gov.uk/search-for-trademark).
Applications for European trademarks made before 1 January 2021 that have not yet been approved on 1 January 2021 will also keep their rigth of priority for a UK trademark for a period of nine months after 1 January 2021, for which however additional formalities (and administrative costs) are to be expected.
Would you like to know more?
The Racine team is at your disposal to answer your specific questions.

The post BREXIT: WHAT ABOUT THE PROTECTION OF YOUR TRADEMARKS AND DESIGNS? first appeared on Racine.

IP | Racine

Racine assists Orange Bank on its acquisition of Anytime

BREXIT: WHAT ABOUT THE PROTECTION OF YOUR TRADEMARKS AND DESIGNS?