Community trade mark case law round-up 2006

Abstract

This article looks at the important decisions of 2006 on the Community Trade Mark made by the Court of First Instance, the European Court of Justice and the OHIM. These cases concern the application of Council Regulation 40/94 on the Community Trade Mark, and also preliminary rulings from the European Court of Justice on the interpretation of Council Directive 89/104 (the Trade Mark Directive). The volume of case law relating to Community trade marks, not to mention the variety of official languages in which the law is interpreted, makes it almost impossible for even the conscientious practitioner to keep abreast with developments as they occur. This article provides an overview of the shifts in Community trade mark practice, in terms of not only the relatively accessible substantive law but also the far more diffuse areas of procedural law and Office practice. In seeking to review and explain these shifts, the authors have adopted a view of the case law that is functional rather than philosophical. In doing so, they lay bare the manner in which the institutions that administer and adjudicate Community trade mark issues interrelate to one another. Practitioners can quickly find the important decisions from 2006 relating to particular articles of the Council Regulation 40/94 on the Community Trade Mark. This article provides an overview of the most significant trade mark cases decided in 2006 by the European Courts of Justice and the OHIM Boards of Appeal. The article enables practitioners to access rapidly the key decisions of 2006. The cases discussed concern the application of Council Regulation 40/94 on the Community trade mark (‘CTMR’), Commission Regulation 2868/95 implementing the CTMR (‘CTMIR’), and Council Directive 89/104 (the ‘Trade Mark Directive’).