What was the year like for the law firm?

Interview with Handriko Artem, Head of IT/IP practice at REVERA

What was the year like for the law firm? What would you like to highlight in terms of achievements?

In 2024 REVERA continued to expand its global presence, building relationships with new partners. Offices in Belarus, Cyprus, Georgia, Poland and Kazakhstan were joined by legal panels in the UAE, Uzbekistan and Armenia. So we dedicated the whole year to the integration of offices and teams.

Our increased presence allows us to more actively develop cross-country competencies; we truly become a single point of entry for clients when they operate in many markets, both through our own offices and panels and our large partner network.

Thanks to the coordinated work of our teams, in 2024 we have already produced several cross-country guides for clients on corporate issues, taxation, intellectual property protection in the countries where we operate, and arbitration. More such activities are expected in 2025.

In 2024, we held a large-scale strategic session with the participation of representatives of all REVERA offices and set strategic goals. In general, the dynamics of the company’s development in 2024 was positive, all key business indicators increased, so we enter 2025 with optimism.

How gaming law practice has changed over 2024?

Globally, compared to 2023, gaming legal practice in 2024 has not changed. Increased demand for supranational legal products (international structuring, international taxation, global brand protection, multijurisdictional transactions, etc.) was also observed in 2024.

Among interesting observations: the emergence of new funds, incubators and accelerators. It seems that within the framework of increasing competition and market density, the struggle to fill up the investment portfolio with cool teams and projects starts at very, very early stages.

What legal issues have gaming companies been most frequently contacted about this year?

In 2024, my top gaming company requests remain the same. These are:

1. International structuring of groups of companies, support of business scaling, its entry into new markets.
2. Brand Protection/Brand management.
3. Attracting investments and M&A.
4. Obtaining benefits and preferences for IT-companies in various jurisdictions.
5. Contractual bundling and risk management.

I definitely note the high demand for IP protection. On a weekly basis, we received requests for brand protection in the EU, USA, China, UK, as well as in quite exotic jurisdictions such as Japan, Australia, Canada, etc.

What legal trends are expected to strengthen or emerge in 2025?

For ourselves, we have noted two trends that may affect our work in 2025:

• he rise of the crypto industry and, as a result, the boom in GameFi projects;
• development of AI – more and more inquiries arise around copyright law if AI technologies were used in the creation of IP.

What are the company’s plans for next year?

As I have already said, we enter 2025 with optimism; the focus of the company’s strategy, as before, is on further growth, scaling up, and entering new markets. We will focus on the development of cross-country and supranational products for international business.