Untimely annulment of Article 14 of Decree-Law No 556 creates legal gap

Late last year the Constitutional Court annulled Article 14 of Decree-Law No 556, which governed revocation actions based on non-use. The decision entered into force on January 6 2017. Only four days later, the new IP Code - which replaced Decree-Law No 556 - came into force. There is thus a four-day legal gap, and pending actions filed on the basis of Article 14 now risk being dismissed based on the lack of legal ground.