Coordination of commercial policy and exhaustion of trademark rights
The advocate general at the Court of Justice has issued his opinion on parallel Schweppes trademarks functioning in different EEA countries and registered for separate proprietors.
The scope of authority of the representative of a foreign undertaking in a Polish branch
Can the scope of authority of the representative of a foreign undertaking in a Polish branch be limited in practice to comply with the principal’s expectations?
Are bilateral investment treaties between member states compatible with EU law?
CJEU Advocate General Melchior Wathelet issued his opinion in C-284/16 Achmea on 19 September 2017. He takes the view that the existence of bilateral investment treaties between member states is compatible with EU law.
A contractor’s experience means work actually done with the contractor’s involvement: A controversial ruling?
The Court of Justice held in Esaprojekt sp. z o.o. v Województwo Łódzkie (Case C-387/14) that a contractor entering a tender individually cannot rely on the experience of a group of contractors it was a member of in performing another public contract if the contractor was not actively and specifically involved in performance of the contract. The ruling, issued in the context of a Polish tender, is widely regarded in Poland as controversial. But is the conclusion by the Court of Justice requiring experience to be based on actual experience really debatable?
Supplementation of documents in procurement proceeding and retention of bid bond
There has been a great divergence in interpretation of the grounds for retention of bid bonds. A recent resolution by the Supreme Court should unify the practice of contracting authorities on this issue. But the justification for the resolution itself admits certain exceptions from the obligation to retain the bid bond, even when the documents submitted by the contractor fail to confirm fulfilment of the requirements of the tender.
Uber: transport services, not e-commerce?
According to the advocate general’s opinions in C-434/15 Elite Taxi and C-320/16 Uber France, Uber does not provide information society services, but local transport services which may be regulated by EU member states.
If a national licensing system is inconsistent with EU law, sanctions cannot be imposed for violating that system
In a judgment issued on 22 June 2017 the Court of Justice took a negative view of the Hungarian system of licences for operation of online gaming. The judgment was preceded by an opinion by Advocate General Maciej Szpunar providing an excellent example of reasoning in cases involving restrictions imposed by EU member states on the freedom to provide services.
When the agent’s principal drives clients away
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a commercial agent may retain the right to a commission if the client intentionally refuses to perform the contract because the principal’s attitude has caused the client to lose confidence in the principal. The ruling also clarifies doubts surrounding the effect that partial non-performance of the contract has on the agent’s commission.
The Domestos bottle: Registration of three-dimensional trademarks
Recent case law from Poland and the EU shows that it is tough to gain protection for a 3D trademark in the form of the shape of a product. Maintaining the protection of such a mark may also be a problem.
Troublesome multiple royalties
The award of multiple hypothetical royalties provided for in Poland’s Copyright Act is the subject of numerous debates and various rulings by the Constitutional Tribunal and the Court of Justice of the European Union.
New rulings on liability for online comments
The European Court of Human Rights has held that an NGO operating an online blog cannot be held liable for comments posted by internet users because the organisation quickly deleted the offending posts. Meanwhile, the Warsaw Court of Appeal has held the publisher of a news site liable even though it was not notified of the unlawfulness of comments before being sued. These new rulings provide an occasion for sharing a few remarks about online defamation.
When does the appointment of a member of a supervisory board of a joint-stock company end?
The issue of determining when the appointment of a member of the supervisory board of a joint-stock company ends in connection with the expiration of the term of office has been the subject of doubts and disputes for some time. It was particularly problematic to determine when the appointment ends when the term of office does not coincide with the financial year. The Supreme Court of Poland recently addressed this issue.
