Some advice to fashion and luxury businesses, from a barrister and solicitors practising in England & Wales and France, as well as a lawyer practising in Germany, specialising in intellectual property, on the practical steps to take in order to enforce one’s IPRS in France, Germany and the UK. Holger Alt, ialci Member of the Executive Committee - responsible for Germany – and Partner, von Boetticher

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Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights
in Germany
Dr. Holger Alt, M.L.E.
Ialci, Law of luxury goods series“
London, 10th February 2015

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Characteristics of the German Civil Procedure
I. Cease and desist letter
1. Contractual penalty
• Only a cease and desist declaration with an appropriate contractual
penalty is sufficient to avoid legal proceedings
• EUR 5,001 to 10,000 for each violation
• “Hamburg Practice”

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Characteristics of the German Civil Procedure
2. Necessity of sending a C&D letter in advance
• It is not mandatory to send a C&D to the infringer before starting
court proceedings under German law
but

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Characteristics of the German Civil Procedure
The plaintiff has to bear the costs of the proceedings if the defendant
immediately acknowledges the claims (see Sec. 93 German Civil
Procedure Code)
Exception: the lawsuit contains claims for searches and/or destruction

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Characteristics of the German Civil Procedure
II. Preliminary injunction
The German Civil Procedure Code offers a very effective legal remedy
for brand owners in case of IP infringements:
preliminary injunction: a court order to immediately prohibit
the continuation of the infringing activities
Generally, a preliminary injunction could be obtained “ex parte” within
24–48 hours (“surprise effect”) .

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Characteristics of the German Civil Procedure
• Only claims for cease and desist, disclosure and seizure of infringing
goods can be enforced by a preliminary injunction (claims for
damages, destruction or cost reimbursement can not!).
• The matter must be “urgent”, which means that the application will
be dismissed if the brand owner unduly delays its motion for a
preliminary injunction.
There exists no fixed deadline but the application for preliminary
injunction should be filed with the court within 4–6 weeks after the
brand owner became aware of the infringement.

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Characteristics of the German Civil Procedure
• Approx. 80% of all IP infringement cases in Germany are finally
solved on basis of preliminary injunctions.

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Characteristics of the German Civil Procedure
III. Duration and Costs of the proceedings
1. Duration of IP infringement cases in Germany (except patents)
• Approx. one year to receive a court order in the first instance plus
approx. another 1 to 1 ½ years for the second instance.

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Characteristics of the German Civil Procedure
2. Court fees are determined on basis of the value of the case
• e.g. typical “values” of claims for cease and desist in trademark
cases are EUR 100,000 up to EUR 500,000 for famous brands.
Example: 1st instance main proceedings
• EUR 100,000 = EUR 2,718
• EUR 500,000 = EUR 10,608

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Characteristics of the German Civil Procedure
3. Attorney fees
In case there exists no fee agreement, the attorney fees are determined
on basis of the German Act on Legal Fees for Lawyers (“statutory
fees”).
Example: 1st instance main proceedings with oral hearing
• EUR 100,000 = EUR 3,823
• EUR 500,000 = EUR 8,937

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Characteristics of the German Civil Procedure
4. Claim for cost reimbursement
Under German law exists a claim for cost reimbursement against the loosing
party regarding the court and attorney fees
but
with regard to the attorney fees such claims are limited to the statutory fees.

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Characteristics of the German Civil Procedure
III. Forum Shopping
The German Federal Court of Justice (“Bundesgerichtshof”) has no
jurisdiction in preliminary injunction proceedings – therefore the Higher
Regional Courts (“Oberlandesgerichte”) are the last instance, leading to
different case law in their respective court districts.
Therefore, the choice of the “right” court might be crucial for the
outcome of the case.

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Dr. Holger Alt, M.L.E.
Partner
email: halt@boetticher.com