Austrian Trademark Infringement

Hi,

Late last year, an Austrian company sent a letter to my

parents via a German solicitor (who it turns out is the

son of the Austrian company owner). This was in

relation to my parents jewellery website – a small UK

business that has been run from their spare bedroom for

the last 5 years. The Austrian company sell their own

jewellery and have a head office, 5 shops in Austria

and a team of people working for them.

The Austrian company own the trademark for an English

girls name in Austria and Germany, which they claim my

parents breached by naming an item of jewellery ‘XXXX

Silver Crystal Earrings’. This item cost £5 and they

have sold two in total. The item was renamed

immediately after receiving the solicitors letter. My

parents have never had any sales from Austria and only

5 from Germany in 5 years – each sale was less than

£15.

The solicitors originally requested 10,000 euros plus

costs. My parents responded via a UK solicitor and

offered 1,000 euros in total, as this is all they can

afford. This offer was refused and they next received

details of an Austrian court case, suing for 35,000

euros plus costs.

On 7th April, I wrote to the Austrian company myself,

begging for them to cease so as not to cause my father

a nervous breakdown, to which I received a blank email

with PDF attachment this morning. I do not understand

the reply, but I think it is requesting 10,000 euros

for damages, 3,000 euros legal costs and a further

1,000 euros to publish an article in a European fashion

magazine stating that my parents infringed their

trademark.

The UK solicitors we’ve contacted do not seem to

understand Austrian law and have basically told my

parents that they are in trouble. A British MEP has

had her office look over the court documents and

advised not to respond, saying that if my parents lost

the case, the Austrian company wouldn't be able to

retrieve the winnings from the UK. However, one of the

solicitors my parents paid for advice, has said that

they would be liable and it could be forced from them.

Please, can anyone offer any advice on the legal

proceedings detailed above? My parents can barely

afford the 1,000 euros they’ve offered to settle. I do

not understand the reply I received in PDF format, but

I assume this is a request for 14,000 euros to be paid

before 31st April. This is not possible and would mean

my father declaring himself bankrupt and liquidating

the business he has spent 5 years building with no

profit.

Many thanks,

Andy