A recent decision of the Supreme Court (13889/2023), ruling on a complex dispute based on a trademark licensing contract, ruled, inter alia, that if one party (in that case the licensor) does not bear the advertising costs for the support of the trademark licensed – as charged to him by the contract – the other party (licensee) is entitled, inter alia, to the refund of the amounts that, in that capacity, had paid to the licensee, even if the contract left the licensee full discretion as to the use of the amounts paid by the licensee, and also, in this regard, excluded the reporting obligation.
According to this Newsletter, it is the first time that the Supreme Court has pronounced in this sense – on the specific point. The decision is therefore interesting because it provides an important tool to the fulfilling contractor, beyond the penalty of damages, always very difficult to quantify.
