Spielwarenmesse eG helps you as far as possible to protect your products against trademark and product piracy.

You as exhibitor present your trademarks and products at Spielwarenmesse and frequently for the first time as innovations. You then discover that your ideas and developments have been copied by counterfeiters. Spielwarenmesse eG wants to support you in your action against trademark and product piracy at the Spielwarenmesse.

The most effective form of protection against copying and using your products and trademarks is the possession of special protection rights within the scope of intellectual property rights. The possession of such protection rights enables you to take effective and rapid action against the theft of your intellectual property, if necessary with the support of a lawyer. However, the protection of intellectual property rights only governs competition between the individual parties.

Due to the legal situation, Spielwarenmesse eG is not authorized or eligible to take independent action against the violation of protection rights.

What you can do before the fair
What you can do during the fair
IPR Council

What you can do before the fair

Registration of protection rights

Register your trademark/product via the responsible office at an early stage. Make sure these property rights are also protected in Germany. The following protection rights can be registered in Germany:

• Patents: Patents are granted for inventions that are new, based on inventive activity and suitable for industrial application.
• Trademarks: All marks, especially words, illustrations or designs, that are suitable for distinguishing the products or services of one company from those of another company can be protected as trademarks.
• Utility model: The "younger brother" of the patent can be used to protect all technical inventions - except processes and biotech nological inventions - quickly and at low cost for a period of maximum 10 years.
• Registered design: A registered design can be used to protect a new design of products.

The EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) provides extensive information and databases on intellectual property, which have been compiled for European companies on its website.

In addition, small and medium-sized enterprises are supported by an SME fund ‘Ideas Powered for business’ financial aid programme to protect their intellectual property rights.

Presentation of protection registration documents

lf you are the holder of protection rights, bring the registration documents for these rights with you to the fair, particu larly registration certificates and records of extensions.

lf you have already taken successful legal action against counterfeiters in the past, also bring evidence of such court rulings with you.

Action by customs authorities

lf you, as the holder of a valid intellectual property right, fear that goods from non-EU countries which infringe your rights are scheduled tobe exhibited at the Spielwarenmesse, you can submit an application for the customs authorities to take action before the fair opens.

After your application has been approved, the German customs authorities will, for example, already investigate whether there is any suspicion of a legal infringement at the time when goods are cleared for exhibition at the fair.

In Germany, the agency responsible for processing applications for action by the customs authorities is the "Zentralstelle Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz (ZGR) der Generalzolldirektion" (Central Agency for Protection of Property Rights at the Gen eral Customs Directorate).

Further information assistance, application (online only) and a description of the procedure is available at:

Another important practical tip

Make sure you can contact your patent lawyer, lawyer or other persons in your company in possession of key information at the weekend, should this be necessary. During the fair lawyers will also be present and available at the fair ground.

What you can do during the fair

Exhibition priority

Exhibition priority is granted for trademarks and other marks of products and services exhibited at the fair in accordance with § 35 German Trademark Law for the duration of the Spielwarenmesse. Exhibition protection ensures that an ex hibitor exhibiting a new article at the fair, for which he applies to the German Patent and Trademark Office for registration as a trademark or other mark within a period of 6 months of the date of the first presentation at the fair, can claim the right of priority within the meaning of the German Trademark Law from this date onwards. More information about this and the procedure is available in Section Exhibition certificate.

lnfringement of the Rules for Exhibitors

Spielwarenmesse eG defines rules on product piracy in Section 12 of its Rules for Exhibitors, which every exhibitor agrees to comply with on signing the application form. These rules prohibit the exhibition of goods at the Spielwarenmesse if their manufacture, placing on the market, sale, possession or advertising violates the laws on the protection of intellec tual property or industrial property rights. In the event of non-compliance, Spielwarenmesse eG may - under the condi tions stated in the rules - exclude an exhibitor from further participation in the Spielwarenmesse. Please contact us in such cases.

Providing proof of counterfeits

lf you as exhibitor have discovered a counterfeit of your product or trademark, you should first secure the necessary proof. Documentation of statements by witnesses is possible at any time. Photos are only allowed with the approval of Spielwarenmesse eG. You should also have the documents available for proving that the counterfeit product or trademark uses your intellectual property.

Warning

lf you discover a counterfeit on the stand of another exhibitor, you can then issue a warning to this exhibitor and request him to provide a punishable declaration of forbearance. lt is usually advisable to enlist the help of a lawyer for this purpose.

Interim injunction

lf the exhibitor refuses to provide a declaration of forbearance and remove the product from his stand, you can enlist the help of a lawyer to obtain an injunction that prohibits the infringing exhibitor from continuing to exhibit, offer or seil the counterfeits. This interim injunction must be requested from the responsible court. lf the interim injunction is issued, the exhibitor is legally prohibited within the scope of the filed application from continuing to exhibit or seil the counterfeits. An interim injunction issued by the court will be in force without limitation to the duration of the fair.

IPR Council - for the Protection of lntellectual Property Rights

The IPR Council at Spielwarenmesse is a service at no charge offered by the fair organizer for the protection of intellectual property and facilitates out-of-court settlement of complaints concerning the protection of exhibitors' industrial property rights.

IPR Council - for the protection of intellectual property rights

What is the IPR Council?

The IPRCouncil (lntellectual Property Rights Council) at the Spielwarenmesse is a seNice for the protection of intellectual property and facilitates out-of court settlement of complaints concerning the protection of exhibitors' indus trial property rights. The purpose of the council is to clarify violations of such rights by products exhibited and/or offered ("exhibits") by other exhibitors during the fair.

The organizer's intention is that the IPR Council helps to resolve such dis putes between the parties involved without delay and without ad versely affecting the course of the fair.

The members of the IPR Council

The arbitration body of the IPR Council comprises three competent and experienced personalities: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schaffert, retd. judge at the Federal Court of Justice (Chairman of the IPR Council) and Ulrich Brobeil, Lawyer and DVSI Managing Director and Sebastian Scholz, patent attorney.

The procedure

The procedure is voluntary for all exhibitors. An exhibitor wishing to initiate the procedure must accept the terms and conditions.

lf an exhibitor has a justified reason to fear that another exhibitor is violating his industrial property rights, he may appeal to the IPR Council. The IPR Council will accept complaints from 9 am to 4 pm daily for the duration of the Spielwarenmesse.

Please report your complaints in NCC West, floor 1, to the Organizerslounge.

Complaints must be made in writing as shown on the specimen forms on display.

The application must be accompanied by valid registration documents tor the protection rights claimed, particularly registration certificates and records ot extensions, in order to prove the validity of the protection rights in Germany. The IPRCouncil then requests the accused exhibitor to participate in settling this dispute out-of-court and to accept the terms and conditions of the procedure in writing. lf the accused exhibitor accepts, he will also be offered the opportunity to comment on the complaint. The IPRCouncil may then inspect the accused exhibitor's stand and is authorized to take photographs of the exhibit that is the subject of the complaint.

lf the accused exhibitor declines to consent to out-of-court settlement of the dispute, the IPR Council will notify the complainant and the Fair Management accordingly. The dispute is not settled out of court in this case.

Decisions and recommendations of the IPR Council

The IPR Council investigates the complaint and makes its judgement and recommendations on an equitable basis.

lf the complaint is justified in the opinion of the IPR Council, it advises the accused exhibitor to remove the exhibit concerned for the duration of the fair and to promise the complainant not to exhibit and/or offer the exhibit in any way for the remaining duration of the fair.

The accused exhibitor is then obliged to sign an appropriate undertaking if he wishes to avoid the possible imposition of sanctions by Spielwarenmesse eG.

Disclaimer

In accordance with the terms and conditions of the IPR Council, Spielwarenmesse eG, the Fair Management statt and the members of the IPR Council are exempted from liability of any kind in connection with the execution of this procedure for settling disputes out-of-court.

Sanctions

Spielwarenmesse eG reserves the right to exclude the accused exhibitor, if applicable, from all further fairs and events of Spielwarenmesse eG - particularly the Spielwarenmesse - in accordance with the procedural conditions of the IPR Council.

Miscellaneous

This procedure for this out-of-court settlement of disputes in no way excludes recourse to the general courts of law. The regulations of the IPR Council are available in several languages. The German language version shall prevail in the event of uncertainties in the interpretation of these regulations.