Have your defence on file before an injunction is granted.
Preparation and central-register filing of a protective brief that submits your defence to the court in advance against potential preliminary-injunction applications, ahead of your trade fair and market activities in Germany.
What is a protective brief?
Under German procedural law, a preliminary injunction (einstweilige Verfügung) may, in urgent cases, be granted without hearing the opposing party. The protective brief (Schutzschrift) is a defensive instrument developed against this risk: you submit your defence arguments to the court in advance, in anticipation of an injunction application being filed against you. When the application arrives, the judge rules not on one-sided information but after reading your defence as well — in most cases the application is either dismissed or a hearing is scheduled.
For whom, and when is it critical?
The typical scenario involves manufacturers and exporters attending a trade fair in Germany: a competitor obtaining an injunction against your stand on the fair's first morning — on a patent, trademark, design, or unfair-competition claim — costs you the entire fair. As we set out in detail in our Trade Fair Law focus area, the protective brief stands at the centre of preparation that begins weeks before the fair calendar. Beyond trade fairs, it is meaningful in any situation where you have received a warning letter, an industrial-property dispute is escalating, or an aggressive competitor is expected to pursue injunctive relief.
The central register and the process
The protective brief is entered in Germany's central electronic protective-brief register (ZSSR) and, for six months from registration, is taken into account by courts nationwide; it is renewed where necessary. The brief's effect is directly proportional to its content: it requires anticipating the likely claims, presenting technical and legal counter-arguments together with their evidence, and mounting a proportionality defence. Template texts are ineffective before an experienced court.
Köksal's approach
With our Berlin and İstanbul offices, we carry out the risk analysis on the basis of your product and marketing materials, prepare the brief in accordance with German procedure, have it entered in the central register (ZSSR) through our German partner firm, and — for the duration of the fair — set up a standby rota via our emergency injunction response line. After the fair, representation in the main proceedings continues without interruption through our German partner firm. For the full set of preparation steps, see our trade fair preparation guide.
Commonly encountered situations
In practice we most often encounter three patterns: English/German warning letters arriving shortly before a fair; unresolved disputes from past fairs resurfacing at a new one; and a former business partner reaching for industrial-property claims as a distribution relationship comes to an end. In all three, the protective brief is the cheapest insurance for preserving your bargaining power.
How this compares with Turkish law
Turkish law has no direct equivalent of the protective brief: under Article 389 et seq. of the Code of Civil Procedure (No. 6100) an interim injunction may be granted without hearing the other side where the circumstances require it, so the respondent’s case usually has to wait for the objection stage — which is to say, until after the decision. That difference has a practical consequence for companies trading in both directions: a Turkish company selling in Germany can put its defence on the register before any injunction is granted, whereas a party in the same position in Türkiye builds its evidence file around objection, security and damages arguments instead. We put both scenarios into one strategy: a protective brief on the German side, objection groundwork on the Turkish one.
Deliverables
The work produces four things: a risk matrix built from a review of the products and the marketing material; the protective brief itself, in the form German procedure requires and with the evidence annexed; confirmation of the ZSSR filing together with a renewal calendar; and a response card for the stand team — who to call, what note to have entered in the record, and which document not to sign.
If an injunction is enforced anyway, the matter carries on without a break through post-fair dispute follow-up: the objection, forcing the main action to be brought, and damages where the injunction proves to have been wrongful. If you are on the rights-holder side the same preparation works in reverse — pre-fair rights analysis ties attack and defence into a single plan.
Other Applications of This Service
Interim Injunction & Provisional Legal Protection — our other specialised solutions in this area.
Matter Connections
The focus areas, practice areas, desks and legislation connected with this sub-service.
Our Matters in This Service
The anonymised examples of our work that relate to this service.
Pre-fair protective brief and stand protection
Establishing a protective brief and a stand-day response plan against the risk of a competitor's injunction ahead of a German trade fair.
Review the matter →Dispute · Trade FairSame-day response to an injunction attempt at a trade fair
Managing an injunction attempt that arose during a trade fair — through on-site intervention, court contact and product adjustment — without the stand being shut down.
Review the matter →The Team Delivering This Service
With our multilingual team of lawyers, well-versed in Turkish and German law, we are by your side.
Related Publications
Fresh perspectives and guides from the Knowledge Centre.
It is most often used against patent, utility model, trademark, design and unfair competition (UWG) claims. The content is tailored with technical evidence to the type of claim expected.
Yes. We coordinate the file from İstanbul; the register filing and any hearing representation are carried out by our partner firm activelaw in Germany, and reporting proceeds in Turkish.
It offers no guarantee; but it prevents the court from deciding on one-sided information. In practice, a well-prepared protective brief leads either to rejection of the application or to an oral hearing being scheduled —…
Ideally it is prepared at least a few weeks before the fair; the filing in the register takes effect nationwide instantly and remains valid for six months. The moment a risky warning letter arrives, it should be prepared without delay.
Protective Brief (Schutzschrift) — get the right legal support.
Let us identify the right solution together, drawing on our experience in Türkiye and the DACH region.