Preliminary injunctions
Slovakia
The court is entitled to issue an urgent injunction at any time, meaning prior to the commencement of the main proceedings, during the proceedings, or after them. In particular, it is a district court that is competent to decide on petitions for granting the injunctions. If an appeal is filed by the claimant or the defendant, the petition is reviewed by a regional court. The court may issue an urgent injunction on two grounds:
- if there is a need to regulate the relationships between the parties to the proceedings without undue delay or,
- if there is a concern that enforcement of a court decision will be threatened.
Urgency
- According to Slovakian law, the urgency of the matter is not mentioned explicitly as one of the conditions for issuing the injunction; however, a number of court decisions have already confirmed that if the claimant waits too long to file the petition for the injunction without having strong reasons to do so, it becomes evidence that the matter is not urgent enough to substantiate granting the urgent injunction.
Remedies
- The trade mark holder can request that the court order the infringer to refrain from infringing the trade mark’s rights or to refrain from actions that threaten to infringe the trade mark’s rights. Claims related to damages fall outside the scope of the injunction proceeding.
Irreparable harm
- Generally, the court grants an urgent injunction if there is a need to regulate the relationships between the parties to the proceedings without undue delay. Such need usually lies in the fact that if the court does not grant the interim injunction, this will cause an irreversible situation or irreversible consequences. These facts should be properly reported and related evidence submitted.
Remedies
- The trade mark holder can request that the court order the infringer to refrain from infringing the trade mark’s rights or to refrain from actions that threaten to infringe the trade mark’s rights. Claims related to damages fall outside the scope of the injunction proceeding.
Irreparable harm
- Generally, the court grants an urgent injunction if there is a need to regulate the relationships between the parties to the proceedings without undue delay. Such need usually lies in the fact that if the court does not grant the interim injunction, this will cause an irreversible situation or irreversible consequences. These facts should be properly reported and related evidence submitted.
Ex parte injunctions
- With respect to the court procedures when assessing petitions for urgent injunctions, it needs to be stressed that in most cases these petitions are assessed by the court ex parte, without the defendant being heard and without cross-examination of the evidence submitted by the petitioner. Accordingly, usually, the first time the defendant becomes aware of the fact that the petition for granting an urgent injunction has been filed against them is the moment they receive the injunction issued by the court.
- Ex parte proceedings are the most common practice of granting urgent injunctions in Slovakia.
Evidence and level of proof
- In urgent injunction proceedings, any evidence legally obtained under Slovakian law is admissible. Given the fact that these proceedings are conducted in writing with no oral hearings, written documents are the most common evidence. The applicant provides initial (prima facie)
- evidence supporting their claim of infringement. The court grants the urgent injunction based on a description of crucial facts supporting the conclusion that it is necessary to issue the injunction.
- This evidence does not need to meet the same stringent proof requirements as the main proceedings, where judges must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt. However, a thorough examination of the evidence will take place during the subsequent main proceedings.
Serving and enforcing the injunction
- The injunction is served and enforced no later than three days after it has been issued.
- One of the main issues of dealing with trade mark infringement cases in Slovakia is the fact that even if the trade mark owner (in the position of a petitioner for granting an injunction) succeeds, and the urgent injunction is issued against the alleged trade mark infringer, the infringer may decide not to comply with the court ruling.
- Under Slovakian law, a defendant in a trade mark dispute who decides not to comply with the court decision does not commit a crime and may not be criminally prosecuted for such conduct. There are no sanctions under Slovakian criminal law that could be imposed on such a non-compliant defendant. There is a crime of trade mark infringement acknowledged by the Slovakian Criminal Code, but the application of this clause is limited to the trade mark infringement itself.
- In such a case, the only option open to the trade mark owner is to approach a local Slovakian court enforcement officer and initiate the enforcement proceedings against the non-compliant defendant for enforcement of non-pecuniary obligations ie obligations as stated in the urgent injunction. Any fine which is paid by the defendant as a result of the sanction imposed by the court enforcement officer does not belong to the trade mark owner, but to the Slovakian State Treasury.
Appeal opportunities
- First instance decisions may be appealed to the respective higher regional court–Banská Bystrica Regional Court. The defendant has a period of 15 days to file an appeal against the injunction issued. The appeal is heard by the regional court. However, there is no precise timeline set by the law on how fast the appellate court should decide.