Barcelona and Alicante courts approve IP Fast Action Protocol for the 2026 Mobile World Congress, Alimentaria and Hostelco: are you ready for fast action?

More than a decade has passed since the creative and dynamic patent courts in Barcelona decided to introduce an intellectual property fast action protocol aimed at ensuring an extremely rapid service of justice during the Mobile Word Congress ("MWC"), the largest mobile trade event in the world and one of the most significant trade fairs held in Barcelona. This fortunate initiative, which was later joined by the Judges of the European Union ("EU") Trademark Court in Alicante, has resulted in the publication of a joint protocol every year since then, a few months before each edition of the MWC.

The "Intellectual Property Fast Action Protocol for the 2026 Mobile World Congress" ("2026 Protocol") has recently been published, following a meeting of the panel of judges of the Barcelona Commercial Court of and the panel of judges of the Alicante EU Trademark Court in a joint meeting held on 4 December 2025. It will apply to the 2026 MWC, due to take place in Barcelona between 2 and 5 March 2026.

The most salient accords of the 2026 Protocol may be summarised as follows:

·     Giving priority and preferential treatment to urgent applications for interim injunctions (whether or not the defendant is heard) related to technological patents and industrial designs of products exhibited at the event, as well as to acts of trademark and copyright infringement, and to unfair competition and unlawful advertising acts in relation to products and materials displayed at MWC Barcelona.

·     Deciding on interim injunction applications on an ex parte basis within 48 hours of their filing at court and, when a protective letter has been previously filed, scheduling a hearing and handing down a decision within 10 days of their submission at court.

·     Allowing those exhibitors that suspect that they could be subject to an ex parte application for interim injunctions based on IPRs to submit a protective letter (escrito preventivo). Courts will admit or reject these letters within 24 hours of being filed.

·     To assess the urgency referred to in article 733 of the Spanish Civil Procedure Act in the adoption of ex parte preliminary injunctions, unless this would compromise the success of the interim measure, the prior conduct of the claimant and the speed with which they have reacted to the knowledge of any infringement shall be a determining factor. In this regard, it is important that the application for urgent preliminary injunctions be submitted sufficiently in advance in good faith so as not to reasonably prevent the defendant being heard, when the owner of the right allegedly infringed had prior knowledge of the possible infringement and could have submitted their application in sufficient time.

The italics in the above sentence, which is clear storm warning for litigants putting to sea at the last minute, comes from the original text of the 2026 Protocol. It will be interesting to see how this requirement is reconciled with article 128.1 a) of the Spanish Patents Act which, for the adoption of preliminary injunctions, requires an "imminent" threat of infringement. The message seems clear: neither too late, nor to soon. The tricky decision to be made will be exactly when.

·     To adopt and extend the immediate enforcement of the preliminary injunctions and/or urgent measures filed, when they comprise acts of presentation, exhibition, promotion, offer or sale, carried out or that are going to be carried out by the exhibitors and participants on the occasion of this congress, in the metaverse or any other type of environments and virtual worlds or online platforms.

·     To adopt and extend the immediate enforcement of the preliminary injunctions and/or urgent measures filed, previously listed, particularly when they include acts derived from images, texts, videos, sounds, voices of people or, in general, content, predictions, recommendations or decisions generated by automated mechanisms, software, algorithms or artificial intelligence systems.

·     The Barcelona Commercial Court will carry out the immediate enforcement of the preliminary injunctions and/or urgent measures that the EU Trademark Court of Spain (First Instance) issues, within the scope of its specific competence, on matters of EU trademarks and Community designs, thus guaranteeing the rapidity and effectiveness of the decisions taken. To this end, the relevant communication and cooperation channels between the two courts will be established.

The experience to date shows that parties should not leave their homework to the last minute. The granting of interim injunctions on an ex parte basis is the exception under the Spanish Civil Procedure Act. Accordingly, they are only granted when hearing the defendant could jeopardise the applicant's position. This means that:

·     Applicants must react quickly: the Barcelona Commercial Courts carefully consider whether the applicant has acted in good faith in order to assess the urgency of the case and grant interim injunctions on an ex parte basis. In particular, they take into account the prior behaviour of the applicant and the speed with which it has reacted after becoming aware of the possible infringement and submitting the application. In this regard, the courts understand that, if at all feasible, the application for urgent interim injunctions must be submitted early enough so that it does not unreasonably prevent the defendant being heard. In other words, the holder of the alleged infringed IPRs who has had prior knowledge of the possible infringement (e.g., 4 months before the MWC) should not unreasonably withhold the filing of the application until shortly before the start of the MWC in order to create an artificial situation of urgency that could have been avoided simply by filing the application beforehand.

·     Protective letters make the grant of ex parte preliminary injunctions less likely: From the defendant's perspective, the Barcelona Commercial Courts appreciate the filing of protective letters, since they allow them to know the arguments raised by the defendant before taking any decision with regard to an interim injunction application and, if necessary, to quickly summon the defendant to an oral hearing.

Similar protocols have been approved for the ALIMENTARIA Trade Fair (International Food and Beverage Exhibition) and the HOSTELCO Trade Fair (International Restaurant and Hospitality Exhibition), both of which are taking place in Barcelona from 23 to 26 March 2026, and which serve as a platform for emerging trends in the food, restaurant and hospitality sectors.

So, the IP Fast Action Protocols are here. Are you ready for fast action?