Law firms prioritise sustainability. But how? | Advocatus

Act 10/2025 reforms the regime governing financial institutions’ customer services and introduces a procedure for the submission, processing and resolution of complaints filed by their customers, including special provisions when such customers are consumers, such as a free helpline and the availability of channels that allow for personalised service to vulnerable consumers or people without access to certain basic financial services that are not defined in the new law.

The Bolar clause allows studies and trials necessary to obtain marketing authorisations for medicinal products to be carried out without infringing patents. Its scope has grown during the passage of the pharmaceutical legislative package, incorporating more actors and more activities, to include participation in public tenders before the patent expires. This extension raises questions about compatibility with the TRIPS Agreement, which only allows limited exceptions to patent rights. Participation in tenders could be considered an offer to sell, thus violating the limits set by that agreement.

With regard to actions under the Building (Unified Regulation) Act, the Supreme Court reaffirms that there is no continuing damage, but rather permanent damage. The solution is more efficient for all parties, as well as fairer. Also cheaper for the judicial system.

Companies with more than 200 employees or 100 per shift must have a sustainable mobility plan as part of their collective bargaining, the aim of which is to rationalise journeys to the place where employees, customers, suppliers and visitors carry out their activities.

In Judgment 1505/2025, the Supreme Court analyses the use of the term 'Donut' by a competitor that markets ring-shaped pastry under another trade mark. Although previous instances considered the use to be merely descriptive, the Supreme Court rejects this on the grounds that it is a reputed trade mark, which triggers enhanced protection. This protection requires avoiding any unfair use of the prestige or distinctive character of the trade mark. The court concludes that the use made was not fair and may involve parasitism and dilution.

The new update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital incorporates regulatory adjustments, interpretative clarifications and additional criteria in response to recent developments in international taxation. It addresses relevant issues relating, among other things, cross-border teleworking, the exploration and exploitation of natural resources, transfer pricing aspects of financial transactions or information received through exchange of information.

The protocol, agreed jointly by the Courts of Barcelona and Alicante, provides for priority handling of applications for pre-trial examination and fact-finding orders, as well as applications for interim measures —with or without a hearing— in matters relating to patents and technological innovations, industrial designs, trademarks and copyright, as well as antitrust, unfair competition and unlawful advertising, when linked to products or presentation, display, promotion, offering or sale activities connected to MWC 2026.

Recently, the Tax Agency’s departments have been altered in order to, among other things, adapt their roles and responsibilities to new forms of tax-related administrative cooperation —covered by Council Directive (EU) 2021/514 (DAC7) and transposed into the Taxation Act —. Among these, we highlight in this commentary the importance of joint audits, recalling their main characteristics and analysing some of the problems that their implementation may pose

The Supreme Court holds that mere knowledge that the limitation period has been interrupted in relation to another eventual joint and several co-debtor is equivalent to interruption. This doctrine will not be justified in most cases.