Case study
Fast provisional injunction against infringement during a trade fair

Problem and action needed

A long-standing client of HOFFMANN EITLE, an innovative European company in the field of marine technology, was facing increasing counterfeiting of its products by South-east Asian competitors. Although these products were appearing increasingly on the EU market, the Asian manufacturers were hard to pin down as they only appeared at trade fairs in Europe with in short timeframes and otherwise did business directly from Asia.

HOFFMANN EITLE’s team

The team consisted of the patent attorney who had built up the patent portfolio of the client for many years and two attorneys-at-law, one specializing in patent litigation and one specializing in trademark law. Both lawyers have particular experience in the filing and handling of provisional injunctions at trade fairs.

Outcome

Possible trade fairs were identified. The possible filing and service of a provisional injunction (PI) was thoroughly prepared by alerting the court and the bailiff as well as a translator. Border control measures were put in place to stop potential deliveries of infringing products related to deals possibly concluded at the trade fair. Our attorneys visited the trade fair and were able to identify the infringing products and could therefore file PI applications based on both patent and trademark infringement on the same day. Due to the presence of the attorneys, communication with the court was swift and the PI was obtained the next day. In cooperation with the trade fair management, the PI could be served and enforced by the bailiff and the translator on the very same day, sending a powerful message to our client’s competitors.