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 ex 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 ex 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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