Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2019

Mobile World Congress 2018 Barcelona. Special Fast Action Protocol for IP infringements

The Mobile World Congress is the most important worldwide convention in the mobile telecommunications sector. This congress takes place annually in Barcelona Fair, Spain, and its next edition will be celebrated from 26th February to 1st of March 2018.

The Commercial Courts in Barcelona adopted an immediate action protocol for the Mobile World Congress for the quick resolution of potential industrial and intellectual property conflicts that establishes a precedent for future fairs and congresses.

The so-called "IP fast protocol", consisting of a series of guidelines to protect the lawful owners of intellectual, for example copyrights in software, brands or intellectual property right, and industrial (trademarks, technology patents, industrial designs, etc.) that will enable right holders to obtain preliminary injunctions for infringements of IP rights in an extraordinarily short period of time during the celebration of the Mobile World Congress.

In addition, the Protocol provides for the possibility to file "protective letters" by those who suspect that an urgent preliminary injunction ex parte will be filed against them.

Photo ® Eugenio Egea Gaeta 2018
Mobile World Congress Barcelona

The commitments adopted were:

a) Give preferential and priority processing to emergency protective measures (with or without a hearing) concerning technological patents and industrial designs of the companies presented at the Mobile World Congress; as well as trademark and IP right violation such as unfair competition and illegal advertising relating to products and materials exposed or exhibited at the fair.

b) Commitment to resolve within two days from entry into court the request for precautionary measures without hearing of the defendant party; and within a maximum of ten days from entry into court for the resolution of precautionary measures with notice of hearing, provided that a preventive statement has submitted.

c) In the context of a possible conflict in industrial or intellectual property with another company and facing the reasonable fear of being subject to an application for precautionary measures without a hearing, to admit the filing of preventive statements before the Commercial Courts of Barcelona, in order to avoid, to the extent it is possible, that precautionary measures are taken without hearing the defendant. This will allow on the one hand that the defendant has a chance expose its case; and it will on the other hand guarantee a chance to appear before the court immediately to resolve any request for precautionary measures without a hearing.

d) The prior behavior of the plaintiff and the speed with which the reacts to the knowledge of any infringement will be crucial in determining whether to apply the urgency in adopting precautionary measures without a hearing established in Article LEC 733, so long as this is not contrary to the real aim of the precautionary measure. In this regard, it will be important that the plaintiff submits the request for urgent precautionary measures in good time such that it in good faith does not reasonably prevent the hearing of the defendant taking place, and where the owner of the allegedly infringed right has prior knowledge of the possible infringement and has filed its case with enough time.

We are able to provide a special legal guidance and assistance in the Mobile World Congress, from filing an injunction against a competitor company to drafting and filing precautionary documents. In case you would like to receive further information, please contact us at our email address mobile@egea-lawyers.com

The Second-Chance Procedure

The principle of universal liability is regulated by Spanish law in article 1911 of the Civil Code. Under this principle, a debtor responds with all his assets for the debts in which he has incurred, even after going through an insolvency process. This principle, however, has been softened with the introduction of the second-chance procedure by Law 25/2015 of July 28, of second chance mechanism, reduction of the financial burden and other measures of social order. The second-chance procedure, also known as fresh start, is a procedure that offers insolvent persons a way to try to reach an out-of-court settlement of payments with their creditors. This procedure can even provide debtors the possibility of the partial waiver of his debts as a last resort, if the debtor’s good faith can be proved and verified.

The second-chance procedure can be initiated by any natural person, whether merchant or not, or by any legal entity, who is currently insolvent and whose liability does not exceed five million euros. Persons who have been convicted of committing socioeconomic crimes, documentary misrepresentation crimes, or crimes against property or public finances in the last ten years are excluded from the possibility of initiating this procedure. Those who have reached an extrajudicial settlement agreement with their creditors in the last five years or who have already initiated a bankruptcy procedure are also excluded from this possibility.

The first stage in a second-chance procedure is the mediation phase between the debtor and his creditors. The objective of this phase is to try to reach an extrajudicial agreement between debtor and creditors regarding the debtor's insolvency situation. To initiate it, the debtor must submit his request by means of a standard form. This form must be presented before the Mercantile Registrar or the Official Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Services and Navigation if the debtor is a merchant or a legal entity or before a notary of the domicile of the debtor if the debtor is not a merchant. These, in turn, will proceed to verify if the requirements are met, which will either result in an obligation to amend any errors or omissions within five days or the admission of the request. In the above-mentioned form, the debtor must identify, in detail, the assets that he owns, his debts and the creditors. The debtor is obliged to present certain documents, including his criminal record, his annual accounts of the last three periods (if he is obliged to keep them), the last three payrolls received, among others. Once the request has been accepted, the authority to whom the request has been submitted to shall proceed to appoint the insolvency mediator, who shall be responsible for managing the procedure. 

Once the appointed insolvency mediator has accepted his designation, certain effects begin to take place. The first effect is that no creditor may request the necessary bankruptcy procedure of the debtor or initiate any new judicial proceedings. In addition, any legal proceedings that had been previously initiated are deactivated or suspended for 3 months (except if they are public creditors or credits with collateral securities). The interest accrual of the credits involved is also suspended. In spite of having started this extrajudicial process, the debtor can continue with his business or professional activity, excluding any acts of administration or disposal that exceed his activity. The authority in charge of the extrajudicial procedure must notify the lower court who would be competent to hear the insolvency proceedings, should it occur, that the second-chance procedure has been initiated. The literate of the Administration of Justice of this court must publish in the Public Insolvency Registry the fact that the debtor is involved in a process of this nature.

The insolvency mediator must verify the facts and documents provided by the debtor within a period of ten calendar days from the acceptance of his designation. Within this period, he must also summon the meeting to be attended by the debtor and the creditors, which must be held within two months of his acceptance.

Twenty calendar days before the meeting, the mediator shall submit to the creditors a proposal to reach an agreement, which shall have the consent of the debtor. The proposal can include any of the following: settlements for a maximum period of ten years, acquittals that do not exceed twenty-five percent of the debt, transfer of assets in payment, conversion of part of the debt into shares of the debtor company or the conversion of the debt into participatory loans for no more than ten years (normally foreseen for corporations). The proposal should also include a payment plan and a feasibility plan that explains how the economic resources will be generated by the debtor to comply with the payment plan.

The meeting between debtor and creditors should be held on the day and time designated for this purpose. At this meeting, the proposal will be discussed, and may be modified in regards to the payment or feasibility plan. Once discussed, it will be put to a vote, which can result in a favorable or unfavorable result. All of this will be documented in the minutes that will be managed by the mediator. In case the agreement has been approved, it must be documented in a public deed if the procedure is carried out before a notary or a copy of the agreement will be presented to the Mercantile Registry to finish the process, and it will be binding on both creditors and debtor immediately. Said agreement shall be published in the Public Insolvency Registry.

In case this extrajudicial agreement is not reached, we enter the second stage of this procedure, which will be the consecutive declaration of insolvency. The mediator must immediately request the competent judge to dictate the insolvency of the debtor, and the judge must immediately agree. Once the insolvency process is concluded, the debtor can opt for the benefit of exemption of unsatisfied debts if, after the liquidation, there are still debts to be paid. This benefit is granted to debtors who have undergone this procedure because it presumes good faith on the part of the debtor when trying to reach an agreement with his creditors, in view of his insolvency situation. Although it is an exceptional mechanism, and not the purpose of the second-chance procedure, a debtor who is considered in good faith may benefit from this measure.

Daniela Rivera Jourdain
Lawyer with EGEA LAWYERS

Mobile World Congress 2016 Barcelona

The Mobile World Congress is the most important worldwide convention in the mobile telecommunications sector. This congress takes place annually in Barcelona Fair, Spain, and its next edition will be celebrated from 22nd to 25th February 2016.

The Commercial Courts in Barcelona adopted on 22nd January 2016 an immediate action protocol for the Mobile World Congress for the quick resolution of potential industrial and intellectual property conflicts that establishes a precedent for future fairs and congresses.

The so-called "IP fast protocol", consisting of a series of guidelines to protect the lawful owners of intellectual, for example copyrights in software, brands or intellectual property right, and industrial (trademarks, technology patents, industrial designs, etc.) that will enable right holders to obtain preliminary injunctions for infringements of IP rights in an extraordinarily short period of time during the celebration of the Mobile World Congress.

In addition, the Protocol provides for the possibility to file "protective letters" by those who suspect that an urgent preliminary injunction ex parte will be filed against them.

Photo ® Eugenio Egea Gaeta

The commitments adopted were:

a) Give preferential and priority processing to emergency protective measures (with or without a hearing) concerning technological patents and industrial designs of the companies presented at the Mobile World Congress; as well as trademark and IP right violation such as unfair competition and illegal advertising relating to products and materials exposed or exhibited at the fair.

b) Commitment to resolve within two days from entry into court the request for precautionary measures without hearing of the defendant party; and within a maximum of ten days from entry into court for the resolution of precautionary measures with notice of hearing, provided that a preventive statement has submitted.

c) In the context of a possible conflict in industrial or intellectual property with another company and facing the reasonable fear of being subject to an application for precautionary measures without a hearing, to admit the filing of preventive statements before the Commercial Courts of Barcelona, in order to avoid, to the extent it is possible, that precautionary measures are taken without hearing the defendant. This will allow on the one hand that the defendant has a chance expose its case; and it will on the other hand guarantee a chance to appear before the court immediately to resolve any request for precautionary measures without a hearing.

d) The prior behavior of the plaintiff and the speed with which the reacts to the knowledge of any infringement will be crucial in determining whether to apply the urgency in adopting precautionary measures without a hearing established in Article LEC 733, so long as this is not contrary to the real aim of the precautionary measure. In this regard, it will be important that the plaintiff submits the request for urgent precautionary measures in good time such that it in good faith does not reasonably prevent the hearing of the defendant taking place, and where the owner of the allegedly infringed right has prior knowledge of the possible infringement and has filed its case with enough time.

We are able to provide a special legal guidance and assistance in the Mobile World Congress, from filing an injunction against a competitor company to drafting and filing precautionary documents. In case you would like to receive further information, please contact us at our email address mobile@egea-lawyers.com

Access to the Legal Profession in Spain

Spain´s Official State Gazette (B.O.E.) has now published the date when the Access to the Legal Profession official exam (Bar exam) will be held.

Applicants must pass this test in order to be able to practice law in Spain.

Aptitude tests to the exercise of the Attorney's profession in Spain

Eurogroup statement on Greece

Since the 20 February 2015 agreement of the Eurogroup on the extension of the current financial assistance arrangement, intensive negotiations have taken place between the institutions and the Greek authorities to achieve a successful conclusion of the review. Given the prolonged deadlock in negotiations and the urgency of the situation, institutions have put forward a comprehensive proposal on policy conditionality, making use of the given flexibility within the current arrangement.  

Regrettably, despite efforts at all levels and full support of the Eurogroup, this proposal has been rejected by the Greek authorities who broke off the programme negotiations late on the 26 June unilaterally. The Eurogroup recalls the significant financial transfers and support provided to Greece over the last years. The Eurogroup has been open until the very last moment to further support the Greek people through a continued growth-oriented programme. 

The Eurogroup takes note of the decision of the Greek government to put forward a proposal to call for a referendum, which is expected to take place on Sunday July 5, which is after the expiration of the programme period. The current financial assistance arrangement with Greece will expire on 30 June 2015, as well as all agreements related to the current Greek programme including the transfer by euro area Member States of SMP and ANFA equivalent profits. 

The euro area authorities stand ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure financial stability of the euro area. 

[1] Supported by all members of the Eurogroup except the Greek member. 

International Franchise Expo (IFE) in New York 2015

The annual IFA's International Franchise Expo has taken place in New York City (June 18 to 20) hosting over 450 top franchises.

Franchises exhibiting in the expo from all over the world have been able to interact with thousands of attendees eager to invest.

The organization conducted a poll among entrepreneurs and business owners attending the expo resulting in 20% declaring to be willing to invest up to 100.000 dollars and 34% looking for ventures and investment opportunities within the region of 100.000 to 500.000 dollars.

In the International Franchise Expo, entrepreneurs can acquire a foreign franchise from the US or elsewhere and introduce it in their home country or promote their own business idea to franchise it in the biggest consumers market in the world.

Our Firm has participated in this event, invited by the US Embassy in Spain's Commercial Service, where several meetings with US and Canadian franchises have been held. Our managing partner, Mr. Eugenio Egea has had the chance to meet with entrepreneurs who are interested in incorporating this type of commercial agreement in their international investment plans.

Whether investing in a business idea developed by others or expanding your own successful venture abroad, the franchise is undoubtedly a most convenient tool which allows business internationalization to reach a faster return on investment.

It is fact that in the last decade, the number of companies expanding their products and their business idea abroad has increased very quickly.

Our firm has been invited in many occasions as part of business delegations attending international franchise expositions. We have provided assistance to companies and business owners in the initial stages of negotiations and in the selection of additional service providers abroad. Contact us for further information about this service.