FAQs

An arbitration centre is an institution of a permanent nature, with its own regulations, competent to promote the resolution of disputes through extra-judicial means such as mediation, conciliation and arbitration.

ARBITRARE has a national scope to resolve disputes in matters of Industrial Property, .PT Domain Names, Trade Names and Corporate Names.

As an example, the following disputes can be resolved with ARBITRARE:

• A company becomes aware that its patent is being violated by a third party, it may then resort to ARBITRARE requesting the recognition and abstention of such violation and claiming potential damages incurred;

• A private party has its request for registration of a trademark refused by the Portuguese National Institute of Industrial Property, he can the resort to ARBITRARE to react against this decision;

• Someone is of the opinion that his company name is being misused on the internet as a domain name, he can then react by resorting to ARBITRARE requesting the removal and/or the transfer of the legal ownership of the domain name;

• A private party to whom a registration request for a company trade name is refused by the Portuguese National Register of Legal Persons, he may then resort to ARBITRARE to react against this decision.

ARBITRARE is a bilingual Arbitration Centre, allowing the parties to choose between the Portuguese or the English languages.

Simple and Fast
Unbureauchratic, the disputes are resolved within a maximum time-limit of 3 months counting from the constitution of the arbitral tribunal.

Specialized
The arbitrators are experts in the areas of competence of ARBITRARE.

Secure and Effective
The arbitral award has the same value as a state court judgment.

Confidential
Confidentiality is guaranteed in all procedural stages.

Online
Procedural dematerialization due to a functional and secure online application.

Bilingual
The proceedings can be carried out in the Portuguese and/or the English language.

Any queries you might have on course of a mediation procedure, an arbitral proceedings or regarding the operation of ARBITRARE, do not hesitate to contact us by phone: 211203100 or by e-mail: geral@arbitrare.pt 

Yes, the Claimant who had his patent register request refused may appeal against that decision, within the time-limit of two months counting from the publication of the referred decision in the Portuguese Industrial Property Bulletin, requesting the revocation of the decision from the INPI refusing the patent.

Yes, you can file a proceedings with ARBITRARE demanding the compliance with the referred contract and claim damages from the infringing company.

The following disputes can be submitted to ARBITRARE for resolution by the Arbitral Tribunal, namely:

• Decisions made by the INPI regarding transfers, licenses, declarations of expiry or any other acts that affect, alter or extinguish industrial property rights;
• Civil disputes arising from the violation of industrial property rights;
• Civil disputes arising from the practice of unfair competition;
• Damage claims arising from the violation of contracts dealing with industrial property rights, the violation of industrial property rights or the practice of acts of unfair competition;
• Disputes arising out of invocation of industrial property rights, including interim measures related to reference medicines and generic medicines, irrespective of whether they involve process patents, product patents, use patents or supplementary certificates of protection. 

The interested party can file an appeal with ARBITRARE against:

• The holder of the domain name; or
• The Association DNS.PT concerning the refusal, removal or acceptance of a domain name.

Yes. Whenever the Claimant in an arbitral proceedings shows grounded fear that another party is causing serious harm to his right, which will be difficult to repair, a temporary suspension of the domain name in conflict can be requested in order to ensure the effectivity of the threatened right.

A decision of the Arbitral Tribunal granting the temporary suspension of a domain name shall be notified to the DNS.PT, who will suspend such domain name until the final decision of the arbitral proceedings.

The rules applicable to .PT domain names can be consulted here.

No, under the Legal Regime of the National Registration of Legal Persons, the hierarchical appeal is optional and shall be addressed to the Chairman of the Portuguese Institute of Registration and Notary Affairs, which integrates the RNPC.

Yes, you may do so within the time-limit of 30 days counting from the date of the notification of the decision of the hierarchical appeal.

ARBITRARE is competent to resolve the following disputes in matters of trade names and corporate names:

• Orders granting or refusing trade names or corporate names;
• Orders declaring the loss of the right of usage of a trade name or corporate name or orders refusing the referred request;
• Adoption of validity conditions of the certificate of admissibility of trade name or corporate name;
• Orders refusing the acceptance of the request, demanding the compliance of certain formalities or the fulfillment of certain requirements;
• Orders refusing the invalidation of certificates of admissibility of trade names or corporate names;
• Orders refusing or granting the definitive registration of legal persons or other entities in the Central File of Legal Persons;
• Civil law claims for damages caused by the improper use of a trade name or corporate name.

In institutionalised arbitration the parties entrust the organization of the arbitration to an Arbitration Centre, like ARBITRARE, endowed with regulations defining the conduct of the arbitration proceedings submitted to it. The parties may provide the option for an appeal to institutionalised arbitration with an arbitration clause or subsequently decide to resort to arbitration, when the dispute arises, by signing an arbitration agreement.

In ad hoc arbitration the parties opt to organize the arbitration themselves, without the need to resort to a specialized institution.

Institutionalised arbitration, in particular with ARBITRARE, offers numerous advantages when compared with ad hoc arbitration, namely:

• Existing Regulations which have been tried and tested;
• Celerity in the resolution of arbitration proceedings due to the fact that the arbitral award must be made within the time-limit of 3 or 6 months (6 months for disputes arising out of industrial property rihts when reference medicines and generic medicines are at stake) counting from the constitution of the Arbitral Tribunal;
• A list of specialized arbitrators who offer guaranties of honesty and exemption to perform the role of arbitrator;
• The decision by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ARBITRARE on several matters, namely the appointment of arbitrators when parties fail to appoint them, the refusal and replacement of arbitrators etc..;
• Control of the procedural costs of arbitration, ensuring low costs;
• Efficiency and quality in the course of the arbitral proceedings, assured by the following up by the ARBITRARE team and by an Online Platform for Dispute Resolution (the course of the proceedings is totally dematerialised);
• Option to file the proceedings in Portuguese and/or in English.

In addition to institutionalised arbitrations, ARBITRARE can also intervene in ad hoc arbitrations within the scope of its competence, offering domicile and secretarial services.

Mediation and conciliation are amicable ways of resolving disputes, where the aim is to obtain an agreement between the parties with the intervention of a third person, a professional qualified to carry out the role of mediator or conciliator.

To submit a proceedings, you must file an Initial Petition, by electronic means, through the ARBITRARE's Online Platform for Dispute Resolution containing the elements required on the ARBITRARE Arbitration Rules applicable to the dispute at stake.

A dispute submitted to an arbitral tribunal with ARBITRARE goes through 3 stages:

1.st - Presentation of procedural documents, namely, the Initial Petition by the Claimant, the written Answer by the Defendant and the Allegations by the Affected Party;

2.nd - Mediation* (optional stage);

3.rd - Arbitration.

*(not applicable to disputes arising from industrial property rights regarding reference medicines and generic medicines)

Yes, since the submission of a dispute to voluntary arbitration is subject to the agreement of the parties, formalized in writing as an arbitration agreement.

Whenever the arbitration agreement already exits, the Initial Petition must be filed with the referred document.

Whenever no previous arbitration agreement exists, the interested party may still submit an Initial Petition. The ARBITRARE Information Service shall contact the other parties in order to assess their willingness to subscribe the arbitration agreement.

When an arbitration agreement is not established, the proceedings will be archived with the consequent reduction of the procedural costs.

Yes, there are 3 entities bound to ARBITRARE:

• The Portuguese National Institute of Industrial Property (bound by Order);
• The Portuguese Institute of Registration and Notary Affairs (bound by Order);
• The Portuguese Association DNS.PT (bound by the .PT Domain Name Registration Rules).

The binding of these 3 entities represents an additional guarantee for private parties who resort to ARBITRARE, ensuring that these entities accept to submit disputes arising out of their decisions to the resolution by an arbitral tribunal.

The parties may opt to choose one or three arbitrators. As a rule, when there is no agreement regarding the number of arbitrators a sole arbitrator will be appointed for the arbitration, except in disputes arising out of industrial property rights when reference medicines and generic medicines are at stake where the existing rule is the appointment of three arbitrators.    

Whenever the parties opt for one arbitrator, the appointment shall be made by agreement. If the parties fail to appoint the arbitrator, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ARBITRARE shall make the appointment.

If, however, the parties have agreed upon the constitution of the arbitral tribunal composed by three arbitrators, each party shall appoint one arbitrator and the two arbitrators shall appoint the third one, who will chair the arbitral tribunal.

Any fully capable natural person (of legal age and with no legal restrictions to the exercise of his/her rights) can be appointed arbitrator. Arbitrators may belong to the ARBITRARE arbitrators list or can be external, and they can be Portuguese or foreign.

Upon accepting the appointment as arbitrator, the appointee will only be legitimately excused if a supervening cause arises, preventing him/her of performing his/her duties (as arbitrator), and this event is subsequently recognized by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ARBITRARE. The arbitrator who fails to comply with this requirement shall be held liable for any damages caused.

All arbitrators, appointed either by the parties or by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ARBITRARE must be and remain independent, impartial and available.

Upon acceptance of office the arbitrator shall sign the statement of acceptance, availability, impartiality and independence foreseen in the ARBITRARE Arbitration Rules. This statement shall be updated if during the arbitration proceedings any new circumstance emerges that, from the parties' perspective, may give rise to reasoned doubts as to the arbitrator's independence or impartiality.

The Arbitral Tribunal accepts all means of proof accepted by law (documentary, testimonial and expert evidence), and such evidence should be produced or presented by the parties.

The arbitration shall take place at the head office of ARBITRARE or in any other suitable location chosen by agreement of the parties.

Regardless of the seat of arbitration, the arbitral tribunal may, by its own initiative or by suggestion of the parties, meet in any location deemed appropriate for conducting hearings or perform any other necessary measures.

The value of the procedural costs is set taking into account:

• The value of the dispute* - in matters of industrial property or trade names and corporate names, according to table no.1, attached to the ARBITRARE Regulation for Procedural Costs.
• The value of the dispute* - in matters of industrial property when reference medicines or generic medicines are at stake, according to tables no.1 and no.2, attached to the ARBITRARE Regulation for Procedural Costs (Reference and Generic Medicines).
• The number of domain names in dispute – in matters of domain names, according to table no. 2 attached to the ARBITRARE Regulation for Procedural Costs.

*The value of the dispute corresponds to the immediate economic utility of the claim and it is the claimant´s responsibility to indicate such value when filing the Initial Petition with ARBITRARE.

The payment of the procedural costs shall occur previously or together with the presentation of the Initial Petition by the Claimant, the Answer by the Defendant or the Allegations by the Affected Party.

The payment of the referred costs shall be made by bank transfer to IBAN PT50.0033.0000.45372547632.05, SWIFT/BIC BCOMPTPL.

By law, the arbitral award has the same enforceability as a state court judgment.

The arbitral award shall be made in the maximum time-limit of 3 or 6 months (6 months for disputes arising out of industrial property rights when reference medicines and generic medicines are at stake), counting from the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, which can be extended upon agreement by the parties or by decision of the Chairman of the Board of ARBITRARE, at request of the arbitral tribunal.

In the proceedings subject to voluntary arbitration the rule is the lack of possibility to appeal from an arbitral award. However, an appeal is admitted to a state court whenever the parties expressly comtemplated such possibility in the arbitration agreement.

In any case, it is always prohibited that the parties appeal against na arbitral award if the arbitral tribunal judges according to ex aequo et bono or as amiable compositeur.

In the proceedings related to industrial property rights when reference medicines and generic medicines are at stake an appeal can be filed with the competente court of appeal, having a non-suspensive effect.

Whoever wishes to submit a dispute to mediation with ARBITRARE must present a mediation request, by electronic means, by filing in the form made available on ARBITRARE´s website, which must contain the elements provided foreseen in the Mediation Rules.

A dispute submitted to mediation with ARBITRARE goes through three stages:

1st – Submission of a mediation request and of a response;

2nd – Appointment of the mediator;

3rd – Realization of the mediation session.

Since the mediation procedure is voluntary, it is necessary to obtain the consent of the parties for the mediation to take place. Whenever the mediation agreement already exists, it must be submitted with the mediation request.

Whenever no previous mediation agreement exists, the interested party may still submit a request for mediation. The ARBITRARE Information Service shall contact the other parties in order to assess their willingness to subscribe the mediation agreement. When a mediation agreement is not established, the procedure will be archived with the consequent reduction of procedural costs.

The appointment of the mediator shall be made by agreement between the parties. If the parties fail to appoint a mediator or fail to agree upon his/her appointment, such appointment shall be made by the chairman of the Board of Directors of ARBITRARE.

Any fully capable natural person (of legal age and with no legal restrictions to the exercise of his/her rights) can be appointed as mediator. Mediators may belong to the ARBITRARE mediators list or can be external, and they can be Portuguese or foreign.

All mediators appointed either by the parties or by the chairman of the Board of Directors of ARBITRARE must be and remain independent, impartial and exempted.

Upon acceptance of appointment the mediator shall inform, through a statement of acceptance, independence, impartiality and exemption provided by ARBITRARE, any circumstances that, from the parties' perspective, may give rise to reasoned doubts about their independence, impartiality or exemption.

The mediation procedure has a confidential nature. The conflict mediator and the parties shall keep confidential all information that comes to their knowledge within the scope of the procedure.

Except in respect to the settlement agreement obtained, the content of the mediation sessions may not be used in court or in arbitration proceedings.

The mediation shall take place at the head office of ARBITRARE or in any other suitable location chosen by agreement of the parties.

The mediation sessions will preferably take place virtually, through videoconferencing systems, notwithstanding the agreement between the parties and the mediator to schedule face to face sessions.

The parties should participate personally in the mediation sessions and may be assisted, namely, by lawyers, trainee lawyers or solicitors.

Legal persons are represented, preferably, by those familiar with the dispute and invested with powers to settle.

The value of the mediation procedural costs is set taking into account the value of the dispute according to the Table attached to the ARBITRARE Mediation Rules.

The payment of the mediation procedural costs shall occur previously or together with the presentation of the mediation request and the answer and the proof of payment must be attached to it.

The payment of the referred costs shall be made by bank transfer to IBAN PT50.0033.0000.45372547632.05, SWIFT/BIC BCOMPTPL.

The agreement reached in mediation has the same enforceability as a state court judgment in the following cases:

• When the mediator is registered on the list of conflict mediators organized by the Portuguese Ministry of Justice and provided that the remaining requirements defined by law are met;
• In cases where the agreement reached in mediation is homologated by an arbitrator.

The time-limit of the mediation procedure must be set in the agreement to mediate, never exceeding 3 months following its signature. The time-limit can be extended whenever there is an agreement between the parties and the mediator and an authorization of the chairman of the Board of Directors of ARBITRARE.

When the mediation procedure terminates without the reaching of a settlement by the parties, they shall sign an arbitration agreement in order to submit the dispute to arbitration with ARBITRARE.