Act quickly when it’s urgent

Case No. S2018_002 ¦ Decision of 5 April 2018 ¦ ‘Abweisung superprovisorische Massnahme; fehlende besondere Dringlichkeit’

Note that Hepp Wenger Ryffel is involved in this matter on behalf of the defendant.

The plaintiffs requested ex parte interim injunctive relief, i.e. without hearing the defendant beforehand. In principle, this is possible in cases of special urgency; Art. 265 CPC. It goes without saying that a plaintiff should act quickly in a case of special urgency. But how quickly does one need to take action so that it is not considered (too) late? The present decision provides further guidance in this respect.

In cases of alleged urgency, the court examines whether the request has not obviously been delayed or could reasonably have been and should have been filed earlier. If this is the case, it is no longer justified to not hear the defendant beforehand. If a plaintiff waits considerably longer after a triggering event than the time limit that is typically set for the defendant to respond in summary proceedings, the case can hardly be assumed to be particularly urgent.

[B]eim Fall der zeitlichen Dringlichkeit ist weiter zu prüfen, ob das Gesuch nicht offensichtlich hinausgezögert worden ist respektive vernünftigerweise früher hätte gestellt werden können und müssen, mithin das Weglassen der Anhörung der Gegenseite nicht mehr gerechtfertigt ist. Die relevante Zeitskala bemisst sich dabei unter anderem an der Zeit, die typischerweise der Gegenseite zur Stellungnahme eingeräumt wird. Wartet die Gesuchstellerin ohne erkennbare Gründe mit der Einreichung des superprovisorischen Gesuchs nach einem auslösenden Ereignis deutlich länger zu, als der Gegenseite in einem Massnahmeverfahren zur Stellungnahme eingeräumt wird, kann schwerlich von besonderer Dringlichkeit im Sinne von Art. 265 ZPO ausgegangen werden, die ein Weglassen der Anhörung der Gegenseite rechtfertigt.

Plaintiffs argued that the defendant had already ample opportunity in prior / parallel proceedings to provide comments. Accordingly, new arguments were not to be reckoned with. The decision holds that this has nothing to do with the alleged urgency, and that there may well be new arguments since parallel proceedings are pending elsewhere.

Further, plaintiffs argued that the expected delay in co-pending nullity proceedings caused urgency of the present request for injunctive relief. However, the decision holds that the course of the parallel nullity proceedings is not out of the ordinary, and plaintiffs could have lodged a claim for infringement in main proceedings since more than a year ago – but did not do so.

time is running …

Note that the request for ex parte interim measures had been filed more than one month after the parties had been informed about availability of hearing dates in parallel nullity proceedings no earlier than end of August 2018, and the plaintiff indicated one of these dates as ‘suitable and preferred’ (‘geeignet und bevorzugt’). Only later, plaintiffs requested an earlier hearing date – which could not be arranged anymore.

Moreover, the present request was filed more than two months after receipt of the opinion of the judge-rapporteur. If this was considered as the triggering event (in view of a changed opinion of the judge-rapporteur), the request could and should have been filed much earlier.

Finally, plaintiffs noted that previous summary proceedings took about six months to conclude. A similar duration in the present proceedings would result in a decision only after the hearing date in parallel nullity proceedings. The decision holds that this, again, has nothing to do with the required urgency.

The request for ex parte interim injunctive relief was thus dismissed, and inter partes summary proceedings are now ongoing.

Reported by Martin WILMING


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Case No. S2018_002 ¦ Decision of 5 April 2018 ¦ ‘Abweisung superprovisorische Massnahme; fehlende besondere Dringlichkeit’

  1. A. AG
  2. B. AG

./.

C. AG

Judges:

  • Prof. Dr. Daniel KRAUS
  • Dr. Tobias BREMI
  • Prisca VON BALLMOOS

Judge-rapporteur:

  • Dr. Tobias BREMI

Court Clerk:

  • Susanne ANDERHALDEN

Representative(s) of Plaintiff:

Representative(s) of Defendant:

DECISION IN FULL

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