2025 was a year that didn’t let businesses relax for a single day. New markets, regulatory changes, unstable rules of the game, constant demand for quick legal solutions — companies had to react instantly, adapt and make bold decisions.
2025 was a year that didn’t let businesses relax for a single day. New markets, regulatory changes, unstable rules of the game, constant demand for quick legal solutions — companies had to react instantly, adapt and make bold decisions.
For us at DS Solutions, it was a year when the team worked at maximum speed: from supporting international deals to launching product legal departments, from saving deals at the last minute to structuring companies entering Europe.
And it was this year that gave us cases that best show: Ukrainian business not only withstands challenges — it wins thanks to speed, flexibility, and the right legal strategy.
We have collected the most successful cases from various practices — intellectual property, IT, tax, and corporate law. These are stories about how the right strategy, speed of decision-making, and deep expertise can completely change the trajectory of a business.
Let’s start with cases in the field of intellectual property, an area where high risks are often combined with high asset value.
The client is one of the leaders in the global vertical drama market with an international audience and expensive content production.
The company faced large-scale piracy: a third-party platform distributed its works without permission through mobile applications, social networks, and web resources, rapidly expanding its reach.
The DS Solutions team did not follow the path of spot complaints, but built a comprehensive strategy. We analyzed the entire infrastructure of the attacker — from applications and domains to traffic sources — and simultaneously activated protection mechanisms on all key platforms.
As a result of appeals to the App Store, Google Play, Google Search, Instagram, Facebook, and the hosting provider, the pirated content was completely removed, the applications were blocked, and the platform itself effectively ceased to exist.
This case is about speed, consistency, and the right legal strategy. In the field of intellectual property, they are what determine whether a business loses assets or retains its market and future revenues.
Another common risk in the field of intellectual property is a situation where a brand is already operating in the market, but remains legally unprotected or faces regulatory rejections. The following case shows how systematic work with trademarks allows you to defend a brand even in the most difficult jurisdictions.
The client sought to protect its trademarks in Ukraine, the EU, and the US, but faced numerous obstacles: prior refusals, objections due to descriptiveness, and opposition from third parties.
The DS Solutions team built a comprehensive strategy: we analyzed the legislation and previous cases, prepared motivated responses to registration offices, and planned communication with opponents in advance to be ready for any scenarios.
As a result, the client’s trademarks are successfully registered in all three jurisdictions, the brand is fully legally protected, and the client is satisfied with the result.
This case is about strategic planning, systematicity, and risk anticipation. In the field of intellectual property, it is these approaches that determine whether a business retains its assets and competitive advantages.
As we look back on 2025, we see not just deals closed, but systems of efficiency built for our clients' businesses. This year was marked by a focus on tax planning and international structuring.
Also, one of the key achievements was the successful comprehensive restructuring of our client’s international business through the creation and integration of a Swiss holding company.
Our work consisted of merging and streamlining the corporate rights of companies incorporated in Singapore, Estonia, Cyprus, and the USA.
This strategic move allowed the client to significantly strengthen its corporate architecture, providing a single decision-making center and consolidating asset management under the prestigious and stable jurisdiction of Switzerland.
We faced a number of technical and legal challenges along the way. The most significant task was the assessment of the corporate rights of companies in different jurisdictions for the purposes of their correct contribution to the authorized capital of the Swiss holding company. The need to harmonize different valuation standards, regulatory requirements and tax regimes required in-depth expertise. Thanks to careful planning and a professional approach, we successfully completed this assessment and formalized the transfer of assets.
As a result, the client received a reliable, transparent and efficient corporate architecture that not only optimized the tax burden within the framework of international legislation, but also significantly simplified future investment and M&A processes thanks to a single and understandable structure.
We also implemented a corporate agreement on strategic partnership and investments for our client and a promising Ukrainian design studio.
The main goal was to create a financial and legal basis for the company to enter the global market.
The deal involved combining our client’s investments with the assets of the target company, which ensured the effective growth of their joint resources.
By developing a customized corporate governance mechanism and clearly defining rights and responsibilities, we successfully completed this cross-corporate investment transaction. This not only provided the company with the necessary capital, but also gave it a strategic platform for active international expansion.
UAE and QFZP status. We successfully obtained Qualifying Free Zone Person status for a client involved in the distribution of goods between the Far East and EU markets.
Somewhat earlier, in 2024, we advised a client on the establishment of a company engaged in international trade in special («Designated») zones of the UAE, which allows the company to legally apply a 0% corporate tax rate on qualified activities.
This same year, we started practical implementation: we prepared the appropriate contractual framework, consulted on issues of «substance» and restrictions on the implementation of activities. And a little later, we received a conclusion on the compliance of the company’s activities with the requirements of the QFZP.
The result is maximum tax efficiency within the framework of the law.
Restructuring and M&A
A) We are now at the finish line of a large-scale restructuring project. The task was not easy: to unite the partners' businesses under one holding in Cyprus.
We conducted a full Due Diligence of the holding, structured the clients' entry into the company. And later, ensured the transfer of shares in each of the group’s companies to the newly created holding.
We have built a transparent structure for asset aggregation and protection, with comfortable conditions for further investment activities.
B) Exit of the owner of an IT product. We provided full legal support for the sale of the business. Among the challenges was that the structure of the deal provided for the payment of the asset value in tranches, while significant operational control was transferred to the buyer immediately after signing, which created significant risks for the seller. and developed and implemented a system of security mechanisms in transaction documents that guarantee the fulfillment of financial obligations by the buyer even after our client loses control over operational activities.
C) B2C product acquisition. The opposite case in terms of dynamics. The client acted as the buyer, and time was the key factor. In an extremely short time frame, we conducted Due Diligence of the object, prepared transaction documents, and finalized the deal, minimizing the client’s legal risks without delaying the process.
2025 proved our ability to work in different tempos and jurisdictions, consistently protecting the interests of the client.
DS Solutions partners: Vladislav Drapi and Stanislav Sklyarov.
