SMM Legal lawyers and the MPT Group – the leading organiser of trade fairs in Poland – are implementing ‘IP Friendly’ – an innovative project aimed at streamlining IP-related disputes involving exhibitors.
‘IP Friendly is a complete novelty in the Polish trade fair sector’, says Tomasz Kobierski, Vice-President of the MTP Group. ‘We are the first ones in Poland to implement tools that go beyond the protection of intellectual property during trade fairs, but also respond to business needs of our exhibitors’, he adds.
The key assumption behind the IP Friendly project is to enable prompt and effective response on the part of exhibitors should any disputes arise, without resorting to lengthy litigation. The wronged party may submit a request for dispute resolution, which takes place while the fair event is still in process. The controversy is settled by an independent and impartial arbitrator, a specialist in intellectual property law. For the purposes of the procedure, a special list of seasoned experts rotationally appointed to resolve disputes is being developed.
‘In collaboration with our Client, we have designed a flexible, fast and transparent dispute resolution procedure, reducing formalities to the absolute minimum. As a result, an expert will decide whether intellectual property rights have been infringed and will be able to order, for instance, a specific item to be removed from a stand’, explains Prof. Rafał Sikorski, head of the IP Department at SMM Legal.
The IP Friendly project was developed in response to the insufficient protection under the current legal system. SMM Legal experts, relying on foreign models successfully implemented by key players in the sector, have proposed new, transparent collaboration rules that ensure world-class protection for exhibitors.
‘We have been working with MTP Group for years, and have implemented a range of diverse projects. This is why we have thorough knowledge of exhibitors’ business and legal needs’, says Mr. Przemysław Maciak, Managing Partner at SMM Legal.
The IP Friendly initiative additionally aims at promoting the awareness of the universality and the broad application of intellectual property law in the business context.
