By Andrea Albert: 

The last 19th of October 2018 it was published a communication of the Judiciary that informed about the agreement of the Permanent Commission of the General Council of the Judiciary to create new specialized Mercantile courts. The regions of Andalucía, Galicia, País Vasco and Canarias will count on these types of courts. These will be added to the existing courts in Cataluña, Madrid and Comunidad Valenciana.

The agreement complies with Law 24/2015 of Patents that anticipates the specialization of courts in the field of industrial property by establishing a mixed geographic scope, regional and national, that allows the plaintiffs to choose the nearest judicial body to file a lawsuit, although it is outside their region.

This way, it resembles European norms regarding industrial property, as it enables the combination of both principles of proximity and justice decentralization, as well as fulfills the specialization requirements.

The objective of this agreement is the optimization of material and personal resources that the Administration of Justice has at its disposal, speeding the application procedures of industrial property, and unifying the criteria concerning this field. In many cases, it is highly complex so that it is advisable that the final decision comes from a judge familiarized with the specific legal concepts of each law field. 

Hitherto, the Permanent Commission has not considered necessary the entry into force of this measure for other regions (Aragón, Asturias, Baleares, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Murcia, Navarra and La Rioja), as they don’t fulfill the requirement stablished by law.

Link of the news item: http://www.poderjudicial.es/cgpj/es/Poder-Judicial/En-Portada/El-CGPJ-acuerda-la-especializacion-en-materias-relativas-a-propiedad-industrial-de-varios-juzgados-en-Andalucia–Canarias–Galicia-y-Pais-Vasco