SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Marina Gómez, Arochi & Lindner
1. Trade Mark and Copyright Law 1.1 Governing Law The basic regulations applicable to national trade marks, trade names and copyright are: • Act 17/2001 of 7 December 2001, on trade marks (the “TM Act”); • Royal Decree 687/2002 of 12 July 2002, approving the regulations for the implementa - tion of Law 17/2001 of 7 December, on trade marks; • Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017, on the European Union Trade Mark (codification); • Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996 of 12 April, approving the revised text of the Intellectual Property Law, regularising, clarifying and har - monising the current legal provisions on the subject (“RLD 1/1996 of the IP Law”); • the Civil Procedure Act 1/2000 of 7 January 2000; • Organic Law 10/1995 of 23 November 1995, on the Criminal Code; and • Royal Decree of 14 September 1882, approv - ing the Criminal Procedure Act. Spanish law recognises as “earlier marks” those unregistered marks which, on the filing or prior - ity date of the application for the mark under examination, are “well known” in Spain within the meaning of Article 6 bis of the Paris Con - vention. 1.2 Conventions and Treaties/Rights of Foreign IP Holders Spain is a member of several key international treaties and conventions that govern trade marks and copyright. Many of these are self-executing, meaning they become applicable without requir -
ing additional national legislation. The main trea - ties and conventions include: • Paris Convention for the Protection of Indus - trial Property (1883); • Madrid Agreement Concerning the Interna - tional Registration of Marks (1891); • Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (1989); • Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (1957); • Vienna Agreement Establishing an Interna - tional Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (1973); • Trademark Law Treaty (1994); • Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (2006); • Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intel - lectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) (1994); • Berne Convention for the Protection of Liter - ary and Artistic Works (1886); • Universal Copyright Convention (1952); • Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (1961); • WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) (1996); • WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) (1996); • Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled (2013); • Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplica - tion of Their Phonograms (Geneva Phono - grams Convention) (1971); and • Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite (Brussels Convention) (1974).
600 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook