BREAKING: CJEU says that operators of physical marketplaces may be forced to stop trade mark infringements of market-traders
Can operators of physical marketplaces be considered "intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to infringe an intellectual property right", so that "rightholders are in a position to apply for an injunction" against them, pursuant to the third sentence in Article 11 of the Enforcement Directive ? Put it otherwise: how does the landmark decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in L'Oréal v eBay [noted here , here , and here ] apply in an offline context? This - in a nutshell - were the issues on which the Nejvyšší soud České rep (Czech Supreme Court) had sought guidance from the CJEU in its reference for a preliminary ruling in Tommy Hilfiger Licensing and Others , C-494/15. This morning the CJEU delivered its judgment [without a prior Opinion of the Advocate General in this case (Melchior Wathelet)] , holding that t he operator of a physi...