In recent years, the number of hotels in Portugal that indicate on their websites, or on booking websites, that children are prohibited, is increasing. They promise little paradises to take a vacation, where you would not hear screaming children, whimpers and tantrums.

If you are not traveling with children, it looks perfect. If you are traveling with children, it is a reason to be jealous or mad because you can't stay in that hotel.

However, is it legal?

More and more companies use patents to keep a distance from competitors or to open up common markets by cross licensing. This raises both legal and practical questions, which patent law expert Christoph Jonas sheds light on exclusively for Digitorney.

Mr. Jonas, if we look around the “Light + Building” fair, we find LED again and again – a market, in which you have been working as a legal advisor for many years. What is the greatest future potential in this industry?

Even before the global COVID-19 pandemic hit, retailers across the country were already prioritizing charitable giving despite the existing downward trend in sales and revenue.  With the recent global COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns, closures, and bankruptcies, retail revenue has further decreased.  Still, some companies took this opportunity to contribute to communities in need during the pandemic.

The COVID virus has ushered in unprecedented and challenging times for our country and the global community. From the deeply personal pain and suffering caused by the virus as a health pandemic to behavioral adjustments in the consumer population at large (“social distancing,” etc.), to every day, but very real, burdens created by business closures and shelter in place orders, the full force and impact of the virus on our society won’t be known for a long time. Apart from these personal and social consequences, of course, the economic downturn is very real and upon us.

Owners of shopping centers and other retail spaces are again increasingly looking to novel uses, including distribution and warehouse uses, sometimes called “fulfillment centers”, to fill growing vacancies.