The trade fair: intense opportunity, intense risk
German trade fairs are the most productive gateway to Europe for Turkish manufacturers – and the fastest stage for intellectual property disputes. Competitors monitor fairs; preliminary injunction (einstweilige Verfügung) orders can be enforced just hours before a fair opens. Preparation must be made according to this reality.
Practical guidance
The protective letter is filed in the central electronic register and is generally valid for 6 months; it must be renewed in line with your fair calendar.
Enter the trade-fair season legally prepared
Our Germany Desk manages the screening, the protective letter and the fair-day emergency response line.
8-12 weeks before the fair
Searches: For the products to be exhibited, trademark, design and patent searches (FTO – freedom-to-operate analysis) must be carried out in the target market. Risky products are identified: a design change, a licence, or a decision not to exhibit can be taken at this stage. Registrations: Missing trademark and design registrations in Germany/the EU must be completed. A patent or utility model application, however, must be filed BEFORE the fair: exhibiting destroys novelty and patent law gives no general grace period (the § 3(5) PatG exception covers only officially recognised international exhibitions); the utility model has a six-month and the design a twelve-month grace period; exhibiting without registration leaves you both open to attack and weak in defence.
4 weeks before the fair: the protective brief
The most effective shield against a competitor’s injunction request is the protective brief (Schutzschrift): your defence against likely allegations is filed in advance with the central register, so that the court weighs the application with your arguments on file and not only your competitor’s account. In urgent cases it may still decide without a hearing (§ 937(2) ZPO). If your product carries European patent risk, a protective brief must also be lodged with the Unified Patent Court Registry in addition to the ZSSR entry (Rule 207 RoP); a ZSSR entry takes effect only before the German ordinary courts (§ 945a(2) ZPO). For risky product groups, the protective brief is the most cost-effective item in the fair budget.
Fair week: the emergency response setup
A one-page instruction should be given to the fair team: who to call at the moment an injunction is served or a seizure takes place, what to watch for in the official record, which documents will be kept ready at the stand (registration certificates, catalogues, sample invoices). Requesting that out-of-scope products be set aside and entering a reservation in the record is the foundation of the subsequent objection and compensation process. Our Berlin team works to a timed response setup during the fair days.
The overlooked contractual layer
Stand construction and rental contracts, temporary staff and hostess services, sample and consignment deliveries, fair insurance: each is a separate relationship governed by German law. Before signing the standard texts, the liability and cancellation clauses must be checked.
If an injunction is enforced: the post-fair litigation process
If a preliminary injunction has been enforced at the fair, the game is not over; the main litigation phase begins. Under German procedure there are avenues to object to the injunction (Widerspruch) and, if the opposing party does not bring a substantive action, to request that the injunction be lifted; an injunction holder found to have been in the wrong may face liability for damages. That is why the records drawn up on the fair day, product photographs and delivery documents are the evidentiary foundation of the objection and damages claim. It is possible for a Turkish company to manage its litigation process in Germany from İstanbul – local representation is arranged by our partner firm activelaw through our Germany Desk, with reporting conducted in Turkish. When cross-border decisions need to be mutually recognised, our recognition and enforcement service comes into play.
Linking the fair to the market-entry plan
A fair is not a stand-alone event but the showcase of an expansion into Germany strategy. The customer cards collected at the fair must be processed in compliance with the KVKK and the GDPR (a consent and privacy-notice regime), discussions with prospective distributors must be conducted with an awareness of distribution agreement strategy, and sample and consignment deliveries must be documented. The 30 days after the fair are a critical window for offers, contracts and follow-up – a company with its legal infrastructure ready turns this window into sales. For those reaching the stage of establishing a permanent structure, our GmbH guide is the next step.
The Köksal approach
Our Trade Fair Law focus area is built on years of field practice at German fairs: protective-letter register filings, a timed response setup on the fair day, and post-fair litigation follow-up form a single package. Let us know your fair calendar; let us close out the preparation checklist together.
Conclusion
Trade fair law is won not at the fair but on the calendar. Once the search–registration–protective brief–response chain is in place, the fair becomes merely the place where business is discussed; and for the prepared participant, the shortest gateway to the European market.
