European Union – Intellectual property rights. The Court of Justice of the European Union made a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of art 5(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 (on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters). The request had been made in proceedings between Hi Hotel HCF SARL, established in Nice (France), and Mr Spoering, residing in Cologne (Germany), concerning a claim for an order to cease an infringement of copyright and for compensation.