ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: David Gilat and Jacob Kasulin, Gilat, Bareket & Co, Reinhold Cohn Group
show that the defendant had access to and produced a work similar to the original. 6.3 Trade Secrets The issue of trade secrets in Israeli law is governed by the Commercial Torts Law of 1999, which forbids the misappropriation of trade secrets, defined therein as “Commercial information of any kind, which is not public knowledge, or which cannot readily and legal ‑ ly be discovered by the public, the secrecy of which grants its owner an advantage over his competitors, provided that its owner takes reasonable steps to pro ‑ tect its secrecy”. While trade secrets disputes in the life sciences and pharma sector are not common in Israel, there are many types of trade secrets associated therewith – such as lists of clients, lists of providers, and market ‑ ing strategy documents – and so such disputes can theoretically arise. District court decisions may be appealed to the Supreme Court by right. Leave to appeal interlocu ‑ tory decisions, including decisions in motions for a preliminary injunction, must be obtained. The term for filing an appeal is 60 days from the date the judgment was issued to the appealing party. The same applies There is no specific arrangement in place regarding patent litigation appeals. Assuming the first instance was the district court, an appeal thereon will be heard before three Supreme Court judges, whereas an appeal over an interlocutory decision (for which leave must first be secured) will be heard by one Supreme Court judge. 7.3 Special Provisions Once an intellectual property case is filed with a regu ‑ lar civil court – be it a court of first instance or that of appeal – it is governed by the CPR. 7. Appeal 7.1 Timeframe to Appeal Decision to motions for leave to appeal. 7.2 Appeal Court(s) Arbiter
Where nullity proceedings are concerned, they are governed by a separate set of regulations; namely, the Patent Regulations, which closely resemble the CPR and rely thereon. 8. Other Relevant Forums/Procedures 8.1 The UPC or Other Forums While the Israeli Customs Authorities are not author ‑ ised to seize patent-infringing goods, they are able – and will – seize counterfeit pharmaceuticals, as well as products that infringe the trade marks and/or copy ‑ rights of another. The seizure procedure under Israeli law closely resem ‑ bles the arrangement provided in Part III, Section 4 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intel ‑ lectual Property Rights (TRIPS). In addition, the Israeli Customs Authorities may seize and destroy shipments containing trade mark/copyright infringing goods and have set up a simplified procedure whereby they con ‑ fiscate shipments of infringing goods without requiring the trade mark or copyright owner to take legal action or file a bank guarantee. 9. Alternative Dispute Resolution 9.1 ADR Options Israeli law allows for both mediation and arbitration, though both require the consent of the parties. Mediation is not binding and could be stopped at any moment, with all information exchanged remaining confidential. Mediation usually takes place before liti ‑ gation – especially if there is an agreement between the parties so necessitating – or during litigation, at the suggestion of the court. Turning to mediation enables parties to reach a confidential settlement, whereas a court judgment would usually be made public. Arbitration is different from mediation: once the par ‑ ties have agreed to arbitration, they are bound by that agreement, with arbitration agreements being vigor ‑ ously enforced and rarely set aside. In addition, unless a right to appeal is specifically provided for, it is very difficult to set aside an arbitral award, as the crite ‑
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