Barcelona’s commitment to hosting MWC 2021 appears to be firmly in place. Today, May 6, the Protocol between the Commercial Court of Barcelona and the European Union Trademark Court in Alicante was made public to ensure swift action regarding injunctive relief and preliminary proceedings for infringements of industrial and intellectual property rights.
Factors to consider:
- MWC will be held from June 28 to July 1, 2021.
- The Barcelona Commercial Court will rule on the same day that they are filed (within24 hours) on whether to accept requests for preliminary injunctions aimed at preventing the issuance of injunctions without a hearing against companies participating as exhibitors at the MWC.
- Preliminary proceedings or fact-finding proceedings based on copyrights, patents, trademarks, designs, unfair competition, or advertising related to products exhibited at the MWC will be given preferential and priority treatment and will be resolved within two days (48 hours).
- Requests for preliminary injunctions will also be given priority and will be decided within 48 hours (if granted without a hearing of the defendant) or 10 days (if a preliminary hearing is scheduled after the exhibitor has filed a preliminary brief).
- Preliminary proceedings and injunctive relief may be sought against both in-person product presentations or displays and those conducted online and/or on any type of virtual platform.
- Hearings on preliminary injunctions will be held primarily online.
- Now is the time for companies, depending on their position, to establish their strategies well in advance to ensure an appropriate legal response. ELZABURU’s proven experience from several consecutive editions of the MWC is at your service.
Access the On-Call and Rapid Response Protocol for the 2021 Mobile World Congress.
Author: Enrique Armijo-Chávarri