Infringement lawyer in Strasbourg

A copied trade mark, an imitated product or photographs reproduced without permission can dilute a brand and its products, and lastingly affect a company’s results. In Strasbourg, Cabinet Bouchara & Avocats assists companies, creators and rights holders who wish to take the necessary action to stop infringement, or to respond to an allegation of infringement.

Our lawyers advise and represent you in trade mark law, copyright, designs and models, patents, software and databases.

We make sure evidence is preserved, arranging bailiff’s reports where necessary, and then determine the strategy suited to the matter: formal notice, takedown, negotiation, urgent proceedings or court action.

From Strasbourg, the firm handles local, national and international matters, acting for claimants and defendants alike.

Have you found an infringement of your trade mark or received a formal notice?

Have an infringement situation reviewed

Our infringement services in Strasbourg

Analysing your rights and the acts complained of

Before taking any step, we first check the rights your company holds and the evidence already available.

Our analysis covers in particular:

• the ownership and scope of the trade marks, copyright, designs and models or patents;
• the registration certificates and industrial property titles;
• licence agreements, in particular exclusive ones, which may affect the action;
• assignments of rights not yet recorded, so that they can be regularised before proceedings are brought;
• the products, signs, photographs, works, software or content affected by the infringement;
• the infringing uses and their extent.

We then distinguish between infringements of intellectual property rights and what falls within unfair competition and free-riding.

We assess the legal, commercial and financial risks attached to the various possible courses of action.

Preserving and building the evidence

Online, in physical retail or at a trade fair, evidence can disappear very quickly: a listing is removed, an account closed or a product withdrawn from sale.

Evidence must therefore be secured before any contact with the opposing party.

Depending on the matter, the lawyer may organise or coordinate:

• a test purchase in store or online;
• digital evidence, in particular on websites and social media, which may also be recorded by a bailiff;
• infringement seizure operations.

Screenshots are also useful, but they do not always establish precisely the date, origin or extent of the acts. A bailiff’s report or infringement seizure operations may therefore be more appropriate.

Stopping the disputed acts

Most often, the company’s priority is to stop the sales, the reproductions or the use of its intellectual property rights quickly.

After reviewing the matter, several routes may be considered:

• a formal notice;
• a takedown request addressed to a marketplace or a social network;
• amicable negotiation, often started after a formal notice, which may lead to a cessation agreement;
• infringement proceedings before the competent court, sometimes brought on an urgent basis;
• a request for the withdrawal, recall or destruction of the products.

Some matters are settled amicably but, at times, continuing the proceedings is necessary to obtain a decision recognising the infringement, bringing it to an end and sanctioning it.

Assessing and claiming compensation for the loss

Stopping the acts is the first step, but it does not settle the question of the loss suffered.

To quantify it, we assess the client’s lost profits, the profits made by the third party, the other negative economic consequences and, where applicable, the moral prejudice and the harm caused to the value of the trade mark or the work.

Defending a company accused of infringement

Our lawyers in Strasbourg also advise companies that receive a formal notice, a writ of summons or that are subject to infringement seizure operations.

In such cases, we build a specific line of argument tailored to the claims made against the company.

We respond to the formal notice, deal with the opposing counsel and defend the company before the court where proceedings are brought.

Handling online infringement and international matters

The same infringing product may be offered on a marketplace, relayed on social media and imported by several distributors.

Our lawyers handle matters involving e-commerce sites, marketplaces, domain names, foreign sellers, importers and others. Where suspect goods are likely to enter the territory, we can also assist the rights holder in filing an application for customs action and in following up customs detention measures.

We identify the sellers and intermediaries concerned and, where the matter involves several countries, coordinate the action with our foreign correspondents.

Have you found an infringement, or are you being accused of one?

Your trade mark, products or works are being used without authorisation

You have found a listing, a product, a website or an advertising campaign that reproduces your trade mark or one of your works.

In this situation, the first question is not always “which proceedings should we bring?”, but what evidence should be preserved and which right should be asserted.

It may be preferable not to contact the alleged infringer immediately, at the risk of seeing certain evidence disappear.

The firm analyses the rights, the facts and the specific features of the matter in order to decide whether to request a takedown, send a formal notice or go straight to court.

You have received a formal notice or a writ of summons

You are a manufacturer, distributor, agency, publisher, online retailer or advertiser and a third party accuses you of using a sign, a product or a piece of content.

Our lawyers then check the basis of the claim: which right is relied upon? Who owns it? Which use is complained of? Which contract governed that use? What liability may attach to each party?

Our advice also covers the commercial consequences of a reply, a withdrawal or a negotiation.

Have a formal notice reviewed

Examples of infringement matters handled by our lawyers

Copy of a product marketed by a competitor

We assisted a company whose product had been copied by a competitor.

Proceedings were brought before the Strasbourg Judicial Court, on the basis of copyright and designs and models. The aim was to obtain an end to the marketing, the withdrawal of the disputed products and compensation for the loss suffered.

Use of a trade mark on a marketplace

We acted for a company faced with the use of its trade mark by several sellers on a marketplace. The dispute was brought before the Paris Judicial Court, as the trade mark relied upon was a European Union trade mark.

The purpose of the proceedings was to stop the sales, obtain the removal of the disputed listings and take action against the identified operators in order to obtain both an end to the conduct and compensation for the loss.

Reproduction of photographs and content by a company

We assisted a company whose photographs had been reproduced on a third party’s website and commercial materials without authorisation.

The action brought before the Strasbourg Judicial Court concerned copyright infringement. It sought an end to the reproductions and compensation for the loss resulting from their commercial exploitation.

Distributor served with a formal notice

We also assisted a distributor accused in respect of products it was marketing.

The matter concerned in particular the origin of the goods and the respective liability of the manufacturer, the supplier and the distributor. Our work aimed to contest the claims brought against our client and to limit its liability in the light of its actual role in the distribution chain.