New developments in IP legislation for 2023 in Spain
WTR Yearbook 2021-2022
Thanks to Sonia Santos and Jesús Arribas who have once again provided the chapter on Spain for World Trademark Review Yearbook. ‘This article first appeared in World Trademark Review Yearbook: A global guide for practitioners 2021/2022, a supplement to World Trademark Review, published by Law Business Research – IP Division. To view the guide…
Specific Protocol to protect IPR for the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s largest and most important event in the mobile communications industry, which will be held in Barcelona from 28 June to 1 July, 2021.
#MWC21 #MobileWorldCongress #GSMA #telecommunications #mobiles #ip #iplawyers #grauanguloteam #allaboutIPlitigation
Catalonia High Court of Justice confirms grant of DYNAMIC SANTIVERI trademark
On 23 February 2021 the Fifth Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Catalonia High Court of Justice (CHCJ) dismissed a contentious-administrative appeal filed by Laboratorios ERN SA, thus confirming the grant of Spanish Trademark 3,717,283, DYNAMIC SANTIVERI.
Second-instance court nullifies acquittal due to incorrect interpretation of IP crime
On 2 February 2021 the Madrid Court of Appeal nullified a first-instance trial court judgment which had acquitted the defendants of committing a criminal offence.
Barcelona Court of Appeal confirms legitimacy of Tommy Hilfiger’s use of TH sign
In an 18 January 2021 judgment, the Barcelona Court of Appeal confirmed the 4 December 2019 judgment of Barcelona Commercial Court 6 which dismissed a trademark infringement action brought against Hilfiger Stores Spain (HSS), SL
Appeal court confirms criminal conviction for commercialisation of infringing products
In its judgment of 14 October 2020, the Madrid Court of Appeal confirmed the condemnatory judgment of Madrid Trial Court Number 25 for a crime against industrial property under Article 274.2 of the Criminal Code. ‘]
Superior Court of Justice confirms criminal conviction for wholesale and retail sale of fake garments
In a judgment of 29 October 2020, the Civil and Criminal Section of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) largely dismissed the brief of appeal filed by the defendant against the convictional judgment issued on 24 April 2020, by which the Provincial Court of Madrid had sentenced him to a two-year prison sentence,…
Second preliminary injunction request based on amended form of patent dismissed
On 27 November 2020 Barcelona Commercial Court Number 1 dismissed the second preliminary injunction request filed by Sanofi against Mylan in relation to an insulin glargine biosimilar product.
Preliminary injunction issued for the issuance of European certificates of conformity for face masks under infringing sign
On 17 July 2020 the Alicante Commercial Court 1, acting as the European Union Trademark (EUTM) Court 1, granted an ex parte preliminary injunction, which had been filed by the German association Tüv Markenverbund, EV (TÜV) against Tuv-World ECC Certification Service, SL (Tuv-World) for infringement of its EUTM for the distinctive sign TÜV. Read…
Appeal court confirms revocation of Spanish SPC for Truvada
During the current state of alarm, on 23 April 2020 the Barcelona Court of Appeal issued a judgment confirming the invalidity of Gilead’s supplementary protection certificate (SPC) for the combination of tenofovir disoproxil + emtricitabine, thus upholding a first-instance decision favourable to generic competitors Teva and Mylan. The matter has been broadly followed in Europe,…
Copyright protection of fashion designs in Spain after Cofemel
Fashion designs tend to be short lived, sometimes available only for a single season before being replaced by other designs. This is reflected in EU legislation. Unregistered community designs were specifically conceived to protect these kinds of design, regardless of the possibility of opting for the more solid protection conferred by registered designs. Read…
IP-related measures adopted due to COVID-19
The health crisis caused by the rapid spread of COVID-19 led to the approval and entry into force in Spain of Royal Decree 463/2020 on 14 March 2020, which declared a state of alarm. This has led to the adoption of diverse judicial and administrative measures which are being adapted to changes during the COVID-19…
Community design courts find infringement of well-known GHD hair straighteners
On 26 February 2020 Section 8 of the Alicante Court of Appeal, acting as the Community Design Court, confirmed the infringement of Jemella Limited’s Community design which had previously been declared by the first-instance Community design court (Alicante Community Design Court Number 1). The Community design in question protected the special shape of the well-known…
Spain Chapter / Trademark Review Yearbook 2020/2021
– Patent, Trademark, Copyright & Design litigation – Advice on licence agreements – Anti-counterfeiting actions – Domain name disputes – Unfair competition Authors Sonia Santos and Jesús Arribas Read the Spain chapter here This article first appeared in World Trademark Review Yearbook 2020/21, a supplement to World Trademark Review, published by Law Business Research…
COVID-19
Dear clients, colleagues and friends: In light of the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus and consequent state of alarm called by the Spanish government, GRAU & ANGULO has adopted a series of measures in order to protect the health of those around us while at the same time provide constant service to our clients.…
Appeal court upholds criminal sentence for possession of infringing handbags
On 4 October 2019 the Barcelona Court of Appeal confirmed a criminal sentence of six months’ imprisonment, a fine and compensation of legal costs for the possession of 240 round bags which infringed the famous Robin Ruth Group (RRG) design. The RRG design consists of a city’s name repeated in the same font, with one…
Barcelona court confirms legitimacy of Tommy Hilfiger’s use of TH sign
On 4 December 2019 the Barcelona Commercial Court No 6 dismissed an action for trademark infringement brought against Hilfiger Stores Spain, SL (HSS) and upheld its counterclaim, declaring partial revocation for non-use of the plaintiff’s Spanish trademark registered for clothing, footwear and hats (Class 25) and leaving it registered exclusively for “occasion hats” and “women’s…
Specific protocol of guard service and fast action for MWC
A new edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s largest and most important event in the mobile communications industry, will be held in Barcelona from 24 to 27 February, 2020. Read More
Exhaustion of trademark rights: Barcelona Court of Appeal rules in Schweppes case
On 22 July 2019 Section 15 of the Barcelona Court of Appeal declared that Red Paralela SL and Red Paralela BCN SL (together, Red Paralela) had infringed Schweppes International Limited’s Spanish SCHWEPPES trademarks by importing and commercialising Schweppes-branded tonics in Spain which had been manufactured in the United Kingdom by Coca-Cola/Atlantic Industries (together, Coca-Cola), the…
Copyright protection: impact of recent ECJ decision on Spanish legal framework
The European Court of Justice’s (ECJ’s) 12 September 2019 judgment in Cofemel-Sociedade de Vestuário, SA v G-Star Raw(1) is good news for EU designers, as it confirms what has already been stated by some Spanish courts – namely, that a design need not have artistic merit, aesthetic value or a particular visual attraction to qualify…
Conviction for sale of fraudulent software
On 5 July 2019 the Oviedo Court of Appeal (Section 3) confirmed a trial court decision which had: found the defendant guilty of copyright infringement; sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment; and ordered him to pay the plaintiff’s court costs and damages of an amount to be determined during the enforcement of the sentence on…
Criminal sentence for possession of infringing FC Barcelona t-shirts
On 26 June 2019 the Madrid Court of Appeal confirmed a 29 December 2018 decision of the Madrid Trial Court Number 11, which had sentenced a Spanish resident of Chinese origin to five months’ imprisonment for the possession of 9,317 counterfeit items of clothing – including t-shirts which infringed FC Barcelona’s IP rights – for…
General Court partially annuls Board of Appeal’s decision in TROPICAL case
On 31 October 2003 Mr Tadeusz Ogrodnik (hereinafter ‘the applicant’) filed an application for registration of an EU trademark for goods in Classes 5 and 31. Registration was sought for the following figurative sign: Read More
Three Grau & Angulo Lawyers Named in World Trademark Review’s Global Leaders
World Trademark Review has just launched a new publication, “WTR Global Leaders”, which shines the spotlight on the best lawyers in trademark practice. We are delighted to announce that three of Grau & Angulo’s lawyers have been named, giving us more mentioned lawyers than any other Spanish firm in the list. It is great to…
Offering goods or services online may be decisive in determining territorial jurisdiction
Grifols, SA filed a lawsuit before the Barcelona courts against Algoritmos Procesos y Diseños, SA (APD) for infringement of European Patent 2.025.601/Spanish Patent 2.372.228, which protected a blister pack handling machine (the UNIBOT machine). Read More
Criminal sentences handed down for sale of IP infringing souvenirs
On 8 April 2019 Valencia Criminal Court Number 15 convicted the managers of a company operating in the souvenir industry for a crime against IP rights – namely, designs – in accordance with Article 273 of the Criminal Code. Read More
Supreme Court recognises Modelo’s right to register and use CONTINENTE mark
On 8 May 2019 the Supreme Court declared a Madrid Court of Appeal judgment to be final, confirming the cancellation of Carrefour Société Anonyme’s CONTINENTE trademarks and recognising Modelo Continente Hipermercados SA’s right to register and use its CONTINENTE mark in Spain. Read More
Effectiveness of protective briefs in pharmaceutical patent matters
As a general rule, defendants in Spain must be heard before a preliminary injunction request against them can be upheld. Preliminary injunctions can therefore be granted ex parte only in exceptional cases – namely, in cases of urgency or if the hearing could jeopardise the preliminary injunction’s aim. However, in pharmaceutical patent cases, plaintiffs often…
Exception to exhaustion of trademark rights principle enforceable for non-luxury marks
On 5 April 2019 Section 5 of the Barcelona Court of Appeal revoked the 21 March 2018 judgment of the Commercial Court of Barcelona Number 2, which had dismissed all of the claims filed by the owner and licensee of the MUSTELA trademark against its former distributor and various other companies. The plaintiffs had filed…
Important changes to Copyright Act
Act 2/2019 of 1 March 2019 has modified the consolidated text of the Copyright Act (1/1996) of 12 April 1996 and incorporated the following EU directives into the Spanish legal system: EU Directive 2014/26/EU on the collective management of copyright and related rights and the multi-territorial licensing of rights in musical works for online use…
General Court: common figurative elements will make an impression on consumers, despite their weak distinctive character
DPG opposed registration of mark representing bottle and arrow in Classes 35, 40 and 42 based on earlier mark representing can, bottle and arrow in same classes. Board of Appeal found that likelihood of confusion could not be excluded. General Court agreed, finding that common figurative elements were likely to be remembered by consumers, even though they…
