ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: Ronit Barzik-Soffer, Luiz Blanc and Rakefet Peled, Reinhold Cohn Group
ment; the duration of it; the severity of it; the actual damage caused; the benefit derived by the defendant from the infringement and the characteristics of the defendant’s activity; the nature of the relationship between the parties and the good faith of the defendant. The Act further stipulates that for the purpose of granting statutory damages, infringements carried out as part of a set of activities will be deemed a single infringement. Statutory Damages Since most of the time it is difficult to prove actu - al damages, it is common to apply for statutory damages. The Act states that statutory damages will not apply to a person who has made available to the public on the internet an artistic work that was previously made available to the public, provided that: • the infringer ceases the infringement within a reasonable time after receiving notice from the owner; • the work was not copied from a catalogue; and • the use was not for commercial purpose. In addition, the statutory compensation clause does not apply to non-profit institutions and similar institutions, and does not apply to educa - tional institutions or libraries that use the materi- als as part of their usual activities, and not for commercial purposes. 10.3 Attorneys’ Fees and Costs The losing party is obliged to pay the other par - ty’s attorney’s fees and costs awarded by the court.
However, in practice, the courts do not usually order the real fees and costs, and use their dis - cretion to decide according to several circum - stances. 10.4 Ex Parte Relief Copyright and trade mark owners may seek ex parte relief without notice to the defendant in cases where there is a reasonable fear that giv - ing notice to the defendant will circumvent the purpose of the temporary relief or cause serious damage to the applicant (usually when there is a reason to believe that the infringer will destroy evidence). 10.5 Customs Seizures of Counterfeits or Parallel Imports The Israeli legal system provides customs sei - zure of counterfeits infringing copyright and trade marks. The rights owner may send customs a com - plaint requesting that allegedly infringing goods be detained. The owner must provide primary evidence regarding the infringement, and a per - sonal guarantee. After the detention of the goods, the rights own - er needs to file a lawsuit and deposit a bond. The customs authority is also authorised to under - take the seizure on its own initiative. Parallel imports are permitted in Israel.
11. Appeal 11.1 Appellate Procedure
The losing party has the right to file the first appeal to the higher instance. Magistrate’s court decisions are appealed before a district court, and district court decisions are appealed before
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