- #
- 1
Spain: An attractive country for investment
- 2
Setting up a business in Spain
- 3
Tax System
- 4
Investment aid and incentives in Spain
- 5
Labor and social security regulations
- 6
Intellectual property law
- 7
Legal framework and tax implications of e-commerce in Spain
-
Downloads
- AI
Company and Commercial Law
- AII
The Spanish financial system
- AIII
Accounting and audit issues
- Introduction
- What is intellectual property?
- What is the registration principle?
- What is the territoriality principle?
- How to overcome the limits of territoriality?
- What are the most important conventions signed by Spain?
- Can intellectual property rights be market?
- What changes are expected in the spanish intellectual property legislation?
- Trademarks
- What is a trademark?
- What factors need to be borne in mind to register a trademark in Spain?
- What are the ways of registering a mark in Spain?
- How do you obtain a Spanish trademark?
- Grounds for refusal of a trademark application
- How long does Spanish trademark registration last?
- What is an international Trademark?
- How to obtain an international trademark?
- Who can file an international trademark?
- What is an EU trademark?
- Who can file an EU trademark?
- How to obtain an EU trademark?
- What checks does the EUIPO conduct when it receives the application?
- EU… and international trademark?
- How long does an EU trademark last?
- Protection of inventions in Spain
- Plant varieties
- Industrial designs
- What are industrial designs?
- What is novelty and individual character?
- How can you obtain protection in a design?
- How do you obtain a Spanish design?
- How long does a Spanish design last?
- How do you obtain a Community design?
- How long does a Community design last?
- What does an unregistered Community design consist of?
- How do you obtain an international design?
- Topographies of semiconductor products
- Copyright
- Unfair competition
- Trade secrets
- Action against infringement of intellectual property rights
- Appendix I – Reference to official fees for 2023
- Appendix II – Intellectual property conventions
10Action against infringement of intellectual property rights
The owner of intellectual property rights may take both civil and criminal action against those that infringe its rights in Spain:
10.1 Civil actions
The procedure for bringing action before the Civil Courts is governed by the Civil Procedure Law, which establishes the ordinary trial as the procedural means for the trademark owner to defend its rights against third parties.
The IP owner whose rights have been infringed may claim:
- The cessation of the infringing acts.
- Damages.
- Seizure of the infringing goods.
- To be awarded the seized objects or their means of production.
- The adoption of necessary steps to prevent the continuation of the infringement.
- Publication of the judgment against the infringer.
The owner of the rights may also seek injunctive relief to ensure the effectiveness of the available actions.
10.2 Criminal actions
Industrial property rights are also covered by criminal law.
In addition to activities related to the marketing, use, manufacture and imitation of inventions and distinctive signs without the IP owner’s consent, the Criminal Code also includes the counterfeiting of plant varieties and parallel imports.
Another aspect that should be underscored is the extension of the grounds for determining that an offense is particularly serious. In this regard the Criminal Code establishes sterner penalties consisting of imprisonment (from one to four years), a fine (from twelve to twenty-four months) and special disqualification from practicing the profession related to the offence committed (for a period ranging from two to five years).