EUPillar BVBA Serverscheck v. BVBA Serverscheck - A.R. 1313006

Summary

This judgment is concerned with a service agreement (the Google AdWords service) and a tort committed on the world wide web. The applicant averred that the defendant committed unfair trade practices. The defendant contests the territorial jurisdiction of the Belgian courts as well as the substance of the claim. Whether the court has jurisdiction is determined solely by the law of the forum court or the lex fori, being in this case Belgian law. Art. 31 of the Brussels I Regulation provides that a court in a Member State may grant such provisional or protective measures as permitted by national law if there is a real connecting link with this country. This is the case even if a court of another Member State has jurisdiction under the Regulation to hear the dispute. The court accepts that the matter has a real connecting with Belgium on the basis of the location of the measure's desired results, which will produce their results at least partly on Belgian territory and more precisely in Leuven, Belgium, where the applicant holds its registered place of business. The court refuses to grant the measures due to the lack of urgency which is necessary in summary proceedings. Short critique The Court correctly applies Art. 31 Brussels I Regulation.