Region: Spain

Office chair headrest designs found to invalidate later Community design consisting of garden chair headrest

The owners of a Community design for a garden chair headrest got more than they bargained for when they sued Danish company Oase Outdoors for infringement, with the latter filing a counterclaim for a declaration of invalidity of the design.

03 August 2023

Acquittal judgment overturned due to incorrect assessment of evidence in case involving imported counterfeit goods

The conclusions reached by the lower court directly contradicted those set forth in the expert’s report.

26 July 2023

SHOP SAFE return likely; WIPO convenes ambassadors; combatting retail theft – legislation and policy watch (February 2023)

WTR’s monthly column tracks trademark and related policy developments, including the progress of major bills, from around the world.

08 February 2023

Manipulating the Chanel logo: defendant convicted for crime against industrial property

The case involved the seizure of hundreds of handbags and wallets that displayed two interlocking metallic circles that could easily be manipulated to create Chanel’s logo.

30 January 2023

Court confirms legality of actions which led to instruction of criminal procedure in IP matter

In a matter that involved the seizure of thousands of allegedly counterfeit products, a criminal court has confirmed that the proceedings were legally compliant, despite a request that they be declared null and void.

22 November 2022

Battle of the sangria marks: EU Trademark Court holds that LOLA MOLA does not infringe LOLEA

The court held that the defendant’s registration and use of LOLA MOLA for sangria did not infringe the plaintiff’s trademark LOLEA and trade name Colmado Casa Lola.

15 November 2022

Spain: Trademark procedures and strategies

Featured in World Trademark Review Yearbook 2022/2023

Distinctive signs are principally governed by the Trademark Act, which was partially modified by Royal Decree-Law 23/2018 to incorporate Directive (EU) 2015/2436. This is complemented by Royal Decree 687/2002, which was modified by Royal Decree 306/2019 to adapt to the Trademark Act as amended. At an international level, the Trademark Act has adapted Spanish law to the general legal framework established within the international community.

21 October 2022

Supreme Court confirms compensation of over €500,000 for using competitor’s trademark as AdWord

The defendant’s advertisement hardly allowed the average internet user to determine whether the services included in the advertisement came from the owner of the trademark or from a company financially linked to it.

12 September 2022

Malaga Court of Appeal requires first-instance court to specify bases to establish defendant’s civil liability in counterfeit clothing case

The decision emphasises that setting these bases in the first-instance judgment is especially important in IP crimes, as there are different criteria for calculating civil liability for these types of crime.

30 August 2022

Administrative revocation and invalidity proceedings to be implemented before the Spanish Patent and Trademarks Office

Substantial changes to the Spanish judicial system will come into effect as a result of administrative revocation and invalidity proceedings henceforth being held before the OEPM.

22 August 2022