Erla S. Arnadottir, partner, and associates Maria Kristjansdottir and Lena Markusdottir just published an article in the Icelandic newspaper Fréttablaðið where they discuss the juncture that occurred on 10th of March when the Icelandic Data Protection Authority made the decision to impose an administrative fine for the first time on two entities. Such an authorization became active in the privacy legislation that came into force in Iceland in the summer of 2018.

Lára Herborg Ólafsdóttir, attorney at LEX, published an article in the business section of the Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið where she discusses the cyber security challenges companies are facing now when people are increasingly working remotely from home due to the Covid19 pandemic, especially in relation to sensitive data and the response procedure in case of a data breach.

Arnar Þór Stefánsson and Víðir Smári Petersen, partners at LEX, discussed the legal rules regarding the cancellation of goods and services in connection with COVID-19 in the icelandic newspaper Fréttablaðið today. In these times various legal rules must be carefully examined. Especially those considering what happens when fulfillment of contracts is impossible, or at least very difficult due to variouse arrangements that have been made due to Covid-19, such as supspending or cancelling various events,  cancelling product orders and booked services and more.

Erla S. Arnadottir and Hulda Arnadottir, partners at LEX along with Maria Maria Kristjansdottir, associate are the authors of the Law and Practice section for Iceland in the Pharmaceutical Advertising guide for 2020 that is published by Chambers and Partners.

Following a catastrophic weather storm that hit Iceland in December 2019 and caused a great deal of damage, the government organized a task force for infrastructure improvements. Arnar Þór Stefánsson, partner at LEX, participated in a  subset of the task force, which produced a memorandum on ways to simplify and integrate processes for construction of electricity transmission systems.

On the 21st of February, the Appeal Court of Iceland pronounced a judgement in a case plead by Jónas A. Aðalsteinsson, Attorney at LEX, on behalf of Orkubú Vestfjarða ohf. against the municipality of Ísafjarðarbær.

In the case, LEX’s client demanded that all rights to hydroelectric power in Úlfsá in Dagverðardalur be recognized as the property of Orkubú Vestfjarða, and that an agreement made between Ísafjarðarbær and AB-fasteignir ehf. regarding a license for exploration and utilization of hydroelectric power in Úlfsá, would be invalidated.

The claims were based on an agreement with Ísafjarðarbær from 1977 regarding the Orkubú’s predecessor’s takeover of the operations, assets and liabilities of Ísafjörður’s power grid. The agreement passed all rights to hydroelectric, geothermal and catchment power that Ísafjarðarbær or the power grid company owned or might later own in on the municipality´s lands or elsewhere. This was to apply equally to known and unknown rights.

Ísafjarðarbær demanded an acquittal, claiming that the endorsement generative of the above agreement was non-binding, invalid or voidable. The Appeal Court did not agree with these arguments and affirmed the district court’s ruling that all rights to the hydropower in Úlfsá in Dagverðardalur were the property of Orkubú Vestfjarða ohf.

Hulda Árnadóttir published an article in the icelandic newspaper Fréttablaðið today under the heading “What should the child be called?” where she discusses person’s name as a brand and the rules regardings such brands in Iceland.

Lára Herborg Ólafsdóttir published an article in the business section of the Icelandic news paper Morgunblaðið under the heading „US authorities in the clouds“ where she discusses legislation on data access in Europe and the United States. The article can be viewed here

The IFLR1000 is the guide to the world’s leading financial and corporate law firms and lawyers. LEX has for the year 2020, yet again, been ranked in Tier 1, in Financial and corpororate as well as Project Development. Ólafur Haraldsson and Guðmundur Ingvi Sigurðsson are ranked as Highly Regarded, Gunnar Viðar as Notable practitioner and Stefán Orri Ólafsson as a Rising star. They are all partners at LEX

In the 2020 edition of World Trademark Review (WTR) LEX Law offices receives immensly favourable review where the talents and hard work of Erla Árnadóttir, Hulda Árnadóttir and María Kristjánsdóttir are recognised

“LEX Law Offices has stood at the forefront of the nation’s IP scene for over three decades. The one-stop shop is a force to be reckoned with and has recently expanded its already robust prosecution offering by acquiring GH Sigurgeirsson Intellectual Property, one of the largest trademark agents in the country. In Erla Árnadóttir, the team has a font of insight and analysis when it comes to large-scale litigation. The Supreme Court attorney has been flexing her enforcement muscles since 1984 and recently assisted the Handknitting Association of Iceland to retrieve its domain name and halt the illegal use of its trademark. She co-heads the practice with Hulda Árnadóttir, who garners effusive feedback. “Hulda is an indomitable defender of her clients’ interests and navigates them through pitfalls with her exceptional insight; she has a granular understanding of trademark issues in the United States too. She is professional, efficient and deserves the highest of recommendations.” Of late, she has been representing Coca-Cola European Partners and managing the portfolio of Mjólkursamsalan ehf, Iceland’s largest dairy producer, alongside senior associate Maria Kristjansdottir. “Maria is really enjoyable to work with and impresses with her consistently high level of service across the board; she is responsive, business conscious and delivers work in a quick turnaround.”“