SMM Legal has helped the MPT Group, a Polish trade fair organizer, implement IP Friendly - a project aimed at streamlining IP-related disputes involving exhibitors.
"IP Friendly is a complete novelty in the Polish trade fair sector,“ said 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."
According to SMM Legal, "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," explained SMM Legal Partner Rafal Sikorski, who heads the IP Department at SMM Legal, and who led his firm's team on the deal. "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."
In addition to Sikorski, the SMM Legal team included Managing Partner Przemyslaw Maciak, Senior Associate Piotr Ruchala, and Associates Ksenia Poczobut and Lukasz Dutkowski.
