Recently, a remarkable step was taken by the Judges of the Commercial Courts of Barcelona, whereby they have set up a protocol of action that will allow holders of Intellectual Property Rights to obtain preliminary injunctions in cases of infringement in an extraordinarily short time during the upcoming Mobile World Congress.
Mobile World Congress (MWC) is the largest mobile industry congregation in the world, bringing together the latest innovations and leading-edge technology from the leading companies. It is the most important congress in the field of communication and mobile telephony, which will be held in Barcelona from February 25 through February 28, 2019. This is the fifth time when the Courts of Barcelona had provided this important international forum to enable the adoption of preliminary injunctions and the handling of preventive briefs under the most urgent conditions. For the first time, the Protocol is agreed jointly by the Mercantile Court of Barcelona and the European Union Trade Mark Court in Alicante. It will be beneficial in a way that the Protocol will be beneficial not only for the patent infringement but also for the cases of infringement of European Union Trade Marks and Designs.
The courts have committed to process and decide the petitions for urgent preliminary injunctions within a period of 2 days (without a hearing for the Defendant) or of 10 days (with a previous hearing being held) in terms of whether a preventive brief was previously filed. The protocol also provides guidelines for the evaluation of the risk factor which validates that measures are taken without a hearing for the Defendant.
The persons/companies with a reasonable fear of being a passive subject to parte preliminary injunctions by a competitor before or during the congress, in order to avoid the adoption of said injunctions, may file a “protective letter” (an anticipated reply or an advance opposition to a foreseeable application for parte preliminary injunctions). The admission of protective letters will be resolved on the same day of its filing (24 hours).
Some of the highlights of MWC are:-
- GSMA Seminars, delivered by renowned experts, and covering essential industry developments and themes
- Mobile World Summit which will include a closed-door meeting between top executives and public policy makers, panel discussions and networking opportunities for the entities.
- As per the report, the European GNSS Agency will have a Galileo stand at the event and will showcase its latest EGNSS-based innovations with support of Horizon 2020.
- This annual event provides a platform for business opportunities and relationship-building.
- It will offer delegates the chance to take part in conferences featuring keynotes and discussions; networking opportunities; and the annual Global Mobile Awards ceremony, which recognizes leading mobile solutions and initiatives around the world.
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