PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Vítor Palmela Fidalgo, João Pereira Cabral and Diogo Antunes, Inventa
11. Appeal 11.1 Appellate Procedure
bursement is claimed through a specific procedural note termed Nota de Custas de Parte . However, this fee-shifting mechanism is not full indemnification. While the winning party can recover the court fees in full, the reimbursement for attorneys’ fees is strictly capped by statute. The amount recoverable for legal counsel is limited to 50% of the total court fees paid by all parties, which typically covers only a fraction of the actual legal fees incurred. Consequently, even a fully successful litigant will bear the majority of their A trade mark or copyright owner can indeed seek and obtain preliminary relief without prior notice to the defendant, particularly in the form of an ex parte injunction, provided that specific statutory require - ments are met. This exceptional mechanism is reserved for situations of extreme urgency where any delay inherent to the standard notification process would cause irreparable harm to the rights holder, or in cases where the very effectiveness of the measure depends on the element of surprise to prevent the destruction of evidence or the dissipation of assets. In the absence of these specific exigencies, the court adheres to the standard adversarial principle by issu - ing a formal citation to the defendant, granting them the opportunity to file a written opposition and be heard before any judicial decision is rendered on the requested measures. Conversely, if an ex parte order is granted, the defendant is notified immediately after the execution of the measure to exercise their right to appeal or request a review of the decision. 10.5 Customs Seizures of Counterfeits or Parallel Imports Customs enforcement is governed by EU Regulation No 608/2013, which establishes a proactive mecha - nism for seizing infringing goods at the border. To trig - ger this protection, rights holders must file an Appli - cation for Action (AFA) with the Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority. This filing compels the Customs Authority to detain suspected goods and notify the rights holder, who then has a strict ten-day period to confirm the infringement. own attorney’s costs. 10.4 Ex Parte Relief
Decisions on trade mark or copyright infringement can be appealed through the ordinary judicial system; both are appealed to the Tribunal da Relação , in accord - ance with the general rules of civil procedure. 11.2 Timeframes for Appealing Trial Court Decisions Appeals must be lodged within the legally prescribed time limit, usually 30 days from notification of the deci - sion in civil cases. As regards duration, an appeal before a Tribunal da Relação typically takes one to two years to be decid - ed, depending on the complexity of the case and the court’s workload. Further appeals to the Supreme Court of Justice, where admissible, usually take an additional one to two years. 12. Additional Considerations 12.1 Emerging Issues The authors do not have knowledge of recent deci - sions on emerging topics such as AI. 12.2 Trade Mark and Copyright Use on the Internet In the online environment, specific procedures apply to trade marks and copyright. Internet service pro - viders and online platforms generally benefit from liability limitation regimes, provided that they do not have actual knowledge of unlawful content and act expeditiously to remove or disable access to it once notified. In practice, many platforms require evidence of ownership of the relevant right, such as a trade mark registration or proof of copyright ownership or licence, before removing allegedly infringing content, and they usually operate internal notice and counter- notice mechanisms.
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