Whether professional reputation of a company can be an object of the pledge?

Įkeitimas (hipoteka) – kaip vienas iš prievolės įvykdymo užtikrinimo būdų, yra vienas dažniausių ir labiausiai paplitusių sandorių užtikrinimo priemonių. Hipotekos ir įkeitimo institutas Lietuvoje labai išsiplėtė po Hipotekos reformos, prisitaikydamas prie naujausių pasaulinių teisinių ir ekonominių tendencijų. Juo užtikrinama tinkama šalių interesų pusiausvyra, o svarbiausia – užtvirtinamas sutarties laisvės principo įgyvendinimas, kuris nebuvo įtvirtintas ankstesnėse normose, reglamentuojančiose įkeitimą. Lietuvos Respublikos civilinis kodeksas įtvirtino naują institutą – įmonės hipoteką. Įmonė suprantama kaip civilinių teisių objektas, nedalomas ūkinis-komercinis vienetas – materialiųjų ir nematerialiųjų elementų visuma. Įmonės hipotekos esmė - įkeičiamas visas turtinis kompleksas su jam priklausančiais kilnojamaisiais ir nekilnojamaisiais daiktais, materialiu, nematerialiu turtu, esamomis bei būsimomis turtinėmis ir neturtinėmis teisėmis bei skolomis. Įmonės hipoteka apima visą įmonę kaip turtinį ekonominį vienetą, su visais jos elementais, įskaitant materialų turtą, nematerialųjį turtą, turtines ir neturtines teises, taip pat įmonės pasyvą – skolas ar kitus įsipareigojimus kaip turtinio komplekso turinio elementus. Įmonės dalykinė reputacija taip pat neišvengiamai patenka į įmonės hipotekos instituto apimtį kaip ir visas kitas įmonės turtas, tad gali būti įkeičiama kartu su visa įmone kaip esminė neatsiejama jos dalis. Įmonės dalykinės reputacijos sąvoka nėra aiškiai apibrėžta ir reglamentuota Lietuvos teisės doktrinoje. Išnagrinėjus jos elementus ir Lietuvos teisės aktus akivaizdu, kad įmonės dalykinė reputacija yra asmeninė neturtinė vertybė Lietuvos teisės aktų reglamentavime. Ji yra neatsiejamas nuo įmonės elementas, pats savaime neturintis ekonominio turinio ir yra neatskiriamai susijęs su jos turėtoju. Dalykinė reputacija turi ekonominę vertę ir formuoja įmonės įvaizdį rinkoje, nuo ko piklauso pajamų augimas. Taigi, be to, kad laikoma asmenine neturtine vertybe, ji gali būti suprantama ir kaip įmonės nematerialusis turtas, turintis ekonominę vertę. Įmonės dalykinė reputacija patenka į įmonės hipotekos apimtį kaip turtinio komplekso dalis, tačiau negali būti įkeičiama kaip savarankiškas objektas, kadangi pati savaime neturi ekonominio turinio ir vertės, bei yra neatskiriamai susijusi su pačia įmone.The goal of this research paper is to analyse pledge as the mean of the security of obligations, the possibilities of enterprise mortgage after the new edit of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania coming into effect and to determine whether a particular intangible enterprise segment – professional reputation of the company, can be the object of the pledge. Pledge (mortgage) – as one of the ways of securing the liability realization, is one of the most often used and most spread means of transaction securing. Hypothec and pledge institution in Lithuania really expanded after the Reform of Hypothec, adjusting to the newest universal legal and economic tendencies. It guarantees a proper balance of the interests of the parties, and mainly – asserts the implementation of the principle of freedom of the agreement which was not fixed in earlier norms regulating the mortgage. Enterprise is perceived as the object of civil rights, an undivided economic-commercial unit – the whole of material and intangible elements. The enterprise mortgage came into effect in the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania in July 1, 2012. Enterprise mortgage was not forbidden by the Lithuanian laws before, but special rules or requirements were not determined for that purpose, therefore the possibility to mortgage the enterprise could be more theoretical than practically realized. Meanwhile in the law of foreign countries, enterprise mortgage as property complex is already time-certified thus is used quite in a wide manner. In the law of other countries, enterprise, as real complex, mortgage is named differently - universal charge, class charge, enterprise mortgage, enterprise charge, and whole property mortgage as all business assets charge. On purpose of determining whether professional reputation of company can be object of the pledge, it is necessary to ascertain the assessment of professional reputation as the object of civil rights, the amounts of enterprise hypothec application and the possibility to realize the possible mortgage object – professional reputation of the company. The essence of the enterprise mortgage is when the whole real complex is mortgaged with its subjective tangible and intangible assets, movable and immovable property, present and future interest and non-interest rights as well as debts. The subject of the enterprise mortgage is the legal entity itself, which is the owner of the whole real complex and aims at mortgaging the property of the enterprise which belongs him under the ownership. The oneness of the enterprise mortgage is that after mortgaging the enterprise under this clause, the asset of the enterprise does not have to be individualized and can change. A hypothec-laden enterprise can further realize its casual economic – commercial activity, conclude new transactions, gain new asset, and sell the possessed property, keeping or even increasing the present value of the enterprise as real complex. In case of not fulfilling the liability, it is first of all attempted to satisfy the requirement of the creditor of the hypothec applying the institution of enterprise administration, continuing the activity of the enterprise and aiming at satisfying the requirements of the creditors from the revenue received by the enterprise, in case of not justifying, selling of the company, as the whole real complex, is applied, and at very outside – enterprise selling in segments. Enterprise mortgage increases the borrowing possibilities for the companies, evoking the whole real complex of the company for the fulfillment of the liability. It also guarantees the possibility to the creditor to take the management of the enterprise as real complex in case of liability non-fulfillment, and to secure the repayment of the credit more easily. Nowadays, greater value is gained not only by personal and immovable property but also intangibles – what does not necessarily have material expression, is not developed or seen, but often is valuable and important. Legally, the intangibles of the enterprise also has its value, is secured and defended, questions about the protection of the intangibles of the enterprise, intellectual property, about the determination of its value and a different application in the market and legal system are analysed more and more often. The following things can be attributed to the intangibles of the enterprise: securities, enterprise prestige, trademark, intellectual property, patents, commercial secrets, licenses, copyrights, developmental works, inventions, technological innovations, also the subject reputation of the enterprise. The conception of the reputation of the company is not clearly defined and regulated in the legal doctrine of Lithuania. After analysing its elements and legal acts of Lithuania, it becomes obvious that the subject reputation of the company is undoubtedly a personal intangible value in the regulation of the legal acts of Lithuania. Though such assessment is narrow enough and does not cover the essence of reputation, because reputation as an object itself can be assessed dually with reference to the universal tendencies. Reputation of the company besides being considered a personal intangible value, can be understood as intangible asset of the company as well, having its economic value. It is a concurrent element of the enterprise, not having any economic content itself and is inherently related to its possessor, but having economic value and shaping the image of the enterprise in the market, what is generating the growth of revenue. If we spoke about the enterprise as immovable property in the aspect of material law, the reputation of the enterprise, as its appurtenance or essential segment, could be assessed as a secondary thing in regard to the primary one. Therefore professional reputation of the company, although being recognized as personal intangible value, eventually can modify and create the material asset of the enterprise and economic value, thus can be considered as the intangible asset of the legal entity not only economically, but also in legal view. Enterprise hypothec covers the whole enterprise as a real economical unit, with all its elements, including the material asset, immaterial property, tangible and intangible rights, also the liability of the enterprise – debts or other liabilities as the elements of the content of the real complex. The professional reputation of the company also inevitably gets into the amount of the enterprise mortgage institution as the whole asset of the enterprise, thus can be mortgaged together with the whole enterprise as its essential concurrent part. Professional reputation of the company, although it can be stated that it formally corresponds to the requirements raised to the object of the hypothec, cannot be mortgaged as a separate object, as it does not have any economic content in it and is inherently related to the enterprise itself. Therefore, in case of non-fulfillment of the liability, during the enforcement, there is no possibility to sell or take it for the unfulfilled liability, and this is the essential drawback of the subject reputation of the company as possible individual mortgage object. Thus, although the requirements raised to the hypothec object would not theoretically forbid the mortgaging of such section of the enterprise, it is obvious that such possibility is theoretical, and only could exist in the case if the obligation is fulfilled properly. In summary, it can be stated that the reputation of the company cannot be the object of the mortgage as a separate element of the enterprise, but enterprise hypothec covers it as an inherent and especially important tangible part of the enterprise.Vytauto Didžiojo universiteta

Is the coronary artery calcium score the first-line tool for investigating patients with severe hypercholesterolemia?

Background: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is known as a reliable tool for estimating risk of myocardial infarction, coronary death, all-cause mortality and is even used to evaluate suitable asymptomatic patients. We therefore aimed to evaluate whether CAC scoring can be applied in the algorithm for clinical examination of patients with severe hypercholesterolemia (SH). Methods: During the period of 2016–2017 a total of 213 asymptomatic adults, underwent computed tomography angiography to evaluate their CAC scoring. The sample consisted of 110 patients with SH and 103 age and sex matched controls without dyslipidemia and established cardiovascular disease. Results: In total there were 79 (37.2%) subjects with elevated (≥25th) CAC percentiles. Out of them 47 (59.5%) had SH and 32 (40.5%) did not. CAC score did not differ between groups (SH (+) 140.30 ± 185.72 vs SH (−) 87.84 ± 140.65, p = 0.146), however there was a comparable difference in how the participants of these groups distributed among different percentile groups (p = 0.044). Gender, blood pressure, tabaco use, physical activity, family history of coronary artery disease and diabetes mellitus were not associated with CAC score (p > 0.05). There were no significant correlations between biochemical parameters and CAC percentiles except for increase in lipoprotein(a) (p = 0.038). Achilles tendon pathology, visceral obesity, body mass index and increased waist-hip ratio were not associated with CAC percentiles either (p > 0.05). Conclusions: CAC score is not associated with presence of SH. CAC score is not an appropriate diagnostic tool in the algorithm for clinical examination of patients with SH. Further larger studies are needed to support our findings