Month: August 2025

Court clarifies which email is most important for serving documents

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Nowadays, when the majority of procedural documents are sent electronically, the question arises: which email address is considered to be the correct one for service of documents - the one you have indicated in the "Mano VMI" system or the one you have provided to the authority in the particular case? The Supreme Court of Lithuania (SCL) has recently dealt with a case in which this dilemma has become a fundamental issue and has provided an interpretation. According to lawyers, it is important for everyone to know.

"In order for a person to be able to actually exercise his or her rights in administrative proceedings, it is essential that procedural documents - such as a report on an administrative offence - are properly served on him or her," says Domantas Velykis, a lawyer at the law firm AVOCAD . The rights of a person subject to administrative liability are set out in the Code of Administrative Offences. These include the right to have access to the case file, to participate in the proceedings and provide explanations, to submit necessary documents and items in writing or orally, to be assisted by a lawyer, and to appeal against decisions taken.

According to the procedure for service of procedural documents (e.g. summonses), documents may be sent via the National Electronic Mail System, by e-mail, by other electronic means, or by registered mail. Documents may be sent by e-mail when the address is indicated in the 'Population Register' or in other public information systems used for electronic services. If there is no such address, documents may be sent by e-mail only if the person himself or herself declares that he or she wishes to receive the documents in this way.

However, in order to use the electronic services of "Mano VMI" (e.g. to submit documents, purchase or renew business licenses, register as a VAT payer, recover overpayments, etc.), it is necessary to register in this system. The first time you log in, you will need to provide your email address. A confirmation link will be sent to your email address, which must be activated. If the address is not validated, you will not be able to log in to the system.

According to lawyer Domantas Velykis, the e-mail address confirmed in this way is saved in the "Mano VMI" system and used to send notifications and documents. Importantly, such an address also complies with the requirements of the Code of Administrative Offences, i.e. it is considered to be an official address provided in the state information system for receiving electronic services.

Nowadays, many people have several e-mail addresses, so the question arises - which address is considered to be appropriate for the submission of procedural documents in an administrative offence case: the one indicated in the Mano VMI system or the one that the person has indicated to the institution?

Supreme Court of Lithuania: "it is important to assess the actual use of email"

This situation was recently examined by the Supreme Court of Lithuania. The courts of first and appeal instance ruled that the institution had violated the rights of the person because it had not sent the documents to the e-mail address that the person had provided to the institution, but to the address confirmed and used in the "Mano VMI" system.

However, the Court of Cassation has stressed that it is important to assess not only the formal indication of the details, but also the actual use of the email. If a person requests documents to be sent to one address but actually uses another, it is for the institution to determine which address is actually available. In the absence of such a finding, the procedural documents should be sent by other alternative methods provided for in the law, such as registered mail.

Commenting on such case law, Domantas Velykis, lawyer at AVOCAD, summarises that the e-mail address indicated and confirmed in the Mano VMI system may be considered as a proper address for service of procedural documents, even if the person has indicated a different e-mail address to the institution - but only if it is proven that the documents actually reach the person at this address.

He also points out that it is the user's responsibility to ensure that the contact details provided in their account are accurate and up to date. "Therefore, periodically check that the email address provided in this system is correct and actively used to avoid legal misunderstandings and possible negative consequences," the lawyer advises.

Renting student accommodation: how to avoid costly mistakes?

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The last days of summer and the month of September are a time when cities are buzzing with students and house hunters. Getting your first lease or changing your home may seem like a simple formality, but this is where costly mistakes are often made. Unrecorded housing conditions, verbal agreements or ill-considered contract terms are often the cause of lengthy court disputes.

According to Karolína Briliūtė, Senior Associate at AVOCAD, the most important first step in this process is a proper inspection of the property before concluding the lease agreement.

She points out that if there is a dispute about who damaged the property, the essential evidence is the condition of the property before the rental agreement was concluded. The essential protection for proving one's position is provided when the condition of the property is recorded. "In such a case, it is advisable for both the landlord and the tenant to film the premises prior to the conclusion of the lease, recording the date on which the recording is made, and reviewing the condition of the premises, identifying any damage or defects already present prior to the lease. The recorded defects must be included in the lease agreement, clearly discussing them", advises K. Briliūtė.

Otherwise, the landlord may take the position that certain defects in the property were caused by the tenant, either during the lease or after its expiry. According to the general rules of evidence, the burden of rebutting such allegations lies with the tenant. In the absence of visual evidence, the tenant risks not being able to defend itself against the claims made against it and having to pay for the damage caused to the dwelling, even if it existed before the contract was concluded. Accordingly, the recording of the condition of the property also makes it easier for the landlord to meet the burden of proof by claiming that it was the tenant who caused the damage during the rental period and thus caused the damage for which it is liable.

AVOCAD's lawyer also identifies a second important step - the conclusion of a written contract. "Although the law provides that a lease agreement can be concluded orally, case law and the volume of disputes that arise confirm that one should not be tempted by its simplicity," warns Karolina Briliūtė.

In the absence of a written contract as evidence and, for example, if the tenant fails to pay the rent, it is difficult for the landlord to prove that the tenant even lived on the premises, and it is also difficult to prove the true intention of the parties as to what was agreed in the lease contract (the price, the term of the lease, the liquidated damages, the penalties, the termination procedure, the termination notice periods etc.). This makes proof difficult, as the parties' explanations or the testimony of witnesses are given decisive weight, and this bureaucratic burden is particularly burdensome in court for the parties themselves. The additional hassle can be avoided by drawing up a written lease agreement and by discussing all the terms of the agreement in as much detail as possible, so as to leave no room for interpretation by the parties.

In this respect, she says, it is advisable to weigh up the potential risks and potential disputes and not be tempted to enter into a written contract in order to avoid taxes.

Lawyer Karolina Briliūtė also points out that subletting is only possible with the owner's consent. It is quite common for several tenants (students) to rent one apartment, but then one of the tenants decides to move out and "sublet" the room to another. In this case, an additional step is necessary to obtain the landlord's consent to sublet the property. If this is not done and disputes arise between the parties, the subletting contract may be invalidated. As in the case of a head lease, it is advisable to keep a record of the condition of the premises in the form of a visual record. This is to protect both the tenant and the sub-tenant in the event of any later questions as to whose fault any damage to the premises was.

You should also be aware of an additional protection for the tenant - the possibility to request a declaration that the terms of the lease are unfair.

In this case, if the lessor is a legal person, the lessee, as a consumer, is clearly entitled to the additional protection afforded to consumers, namely the possibility of requesting the annulment of the provisions of the lease. "It should be borne in mind that a natural person may also be considered an entrepreneur if the rental of residential premises is his/her usual (frequent) activity, the income from which is derived or a certain part of the rental income constitutes the landlord's income. In this way, the tenant is entitled to the additional consumer protection that applies to consumers," she stresses.

According to Karolina Briliūtė, unfair terms can be defined as terms that substantially unbalance the rights and obligations of the landlord and the tenant, putting the tenant in a significantly worse position than the landlord.

For this reason, it is preferable to prove the agreed circumstances where there is a written contract, rather than relying solely on oral explanations in the event of a dispute as to what was agreed between the landlord and the tenant.

In conclusion, the lawyer says that when concluding lease agreements, it is advisable not to avoid concluding them in writing, agreeing on all the terms of the agreement in as much detail as possible in order to avoid any interpretation of such provisions, recording the condition of the premises for both the landlord and the tenant prior to the conclusion of the agreement, making sure that the terms of the agreement do not distort the balance of the parties' rights and duties, and that any change of one of the tenants in the contractual relationship is only possible with the landlord's agreement.

 

 

Selling products without the consent of the trade mark owner. What are the risks?

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In international trade, every step in the use of a trademark must be based on the express consent of the owner. Failure to do so may result in even original goods being subject to illegal distribution.

TheCourt of Appeal of Lithuania has confirmed that Greita upė UAB illegally distributed Chupa Chups carbonated beverages made in South Korea because it did not have the trademark owner - the Italian company Perfetti Van Melle s.p.a. - with the consent of the other party. The court banned the further sale of such products on the EU market and awarded damages of €20,000.

The Court found that the South Korean producer had been granted a licence to supply beverages to the European Union only through three clearly named companies. "The drinks were not purchased by Greita rivers from these official suppliers, but from a Latvian company which was not authorised to sell Chupa Chups drinks for the EU market. Moreover, the packaging with Korean inscriptions confirmed that the product was intended for the South Korean market only. These circumstances mean that the goods appeared on the EU market without the authorisation of the rightful owner, which qualifies as an infringement of intellectual property rights.

The Lithuanian company defended itself by arguing that the goods had been purchased from a third party operating in the European Union, Top Food SIA, and that, in its view, the claimant should have brought all claims for infringement of the trade mark proprietor's rights against the third party, and not against the respondent.Otherwise, a precedent would be established where the final purchaser of the goods would be required to prove the previous chain of acquisition of the goods back to their manufacturer, notwithstanding the fact that the goods were acquired after they had already entered the European Union market.Therefore, in the view of the company's representatives, the defendant's acquisition of the goods was lawful and not in breach of the legal requirements.

However, the courts were not persuaded by such arguments and ultimately held that the mere fact that the defendant acquired the goods at issue from a Latvian company did not constitute a basis for finding that the applicant's rights as the proprietor of the trade marks had lapsed.The mere placing on the market of goods bearing the relevant trade mark in the European Union (EEA) must not be construed as extinguishing (exhausting) the applicant's rights in the trade mark registered and protected in its name.

"This case is a classic example of how a misunderstanding of the legality of a supply chain can lead to significant legal consequences. The mere fact that the goods were purchased legally does not in any way mean that the owner of the trademark loses all his rights to the trademark," says Mantas Baigys, an attorney at law at AVOCAD .

According to the lawyer, it was not for the trader to prove that the soft drinks bearing the trademarks 'CHUPA CHUPS' had been purchased on the European Union market, but that they had been placed on the market in the Member States of the European Union with the applicant's consent.

Key lessons for business

Legal analysis - Before importing products, it is necessary to assess whether the marketing of certain products under specific trademarks will infringe the intellectual property rights of that owner. Failure to do so may result in the cessation of all trade, the destruction of all products and the payment of all material and non-material damages to the owner of that trade mark.

Drafting the contract properly - Record all verbal confirmations by the distributor in a written agreement on the ownership of the intellectual property, and remember to include clauses on liability in the event of a counterfactual.

Proper legal prevention will avoid unpleasant, time-consuming and costly litigation, which can lead not only to negative financial consequences, but also to reputational damage to the business itself, without the consent of the trademark owner.