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Balcar, Polansky & Spol. Successful in Court of Justice of the European Union for Trademark Owners in Fight Against Market Hall Operators

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The Czech Republic’s Balcar, Polansky & Spol. law firm has obtained what it describes as "a landmark judgement” by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in favor of the firm's clients — famous trademark owners including Tommy Hilfiger, Burberry, and Lacoste — and against Delta Center a.s., a Czech market hall operator.

According to Balcar, Polansky & Spol., “giving an interpretation of article 11 of Directive 2004/48/EC, the CJEU came to the conclusion that an intermediary whose services are used by a third person to infringe intellectual property rights can also be considered a market place operator who provides selling places in his/her market hall to individual vendors selling counterfeit goods. The CJEU also ruled that, as in the C-324/09 L’Oreal case, the conditions for an injunction against an intermediary who provides selling places in his/her market hall are identical to injunctions which may be addressed to intermediaries in online marketplaces."

Balcar, Polansky & Spol. also reported that, “according to the CJEU’s interpretation … trademark owners can claim judicial protection directly against market place operators and can do so even if the market place operators are not infringing intellectual property rights by themselves. This landmark judgement could simplify the position of brand owners, as until now only claims against individual vendors were possible.”

The Balcar, Polansky & Spol. team consisted of Head of Real Estate Ludmila Neustupna and Head of Dispute Resolution David Lejcek.

Additional analysis of the significance of the CJEU’s July 7, 2016, decision can be found here.

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