Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2006:147
Date: 2006-02-23
Language of the case: German
Court formation: First Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Consumer protection;Approximation of laws
Concepts: Misleading and comparative advertising
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment Approximation of laws – Misleading and comparative advertising – Directive 84/450 (Council Directive 84/450, Art. 3a(1)(g), as amended by Directive 97/55) Under Article 3a(1)(g) of Directive 84/450 concerning misleading and comparative advertising, as amended by Directive 97/55, the benefit of comparative advertising to consumers must necessarily be taken into account in determining whether an advertiser is taking unfair advantage of the reputation of a trade mark, trade name or other distinguishing marks of a competitor. On the other hand, the benefit an advertiser derives from comparative advertising, which, by reason of its very nature, is self-evident in all cases, cannot alone be determinative of whether the conduct of such an advertiser is lawful. It follows that that provision must be interpreted as meaning that, by using in its catalogues the core element of a manufacturer’s distinguishing mark, namely a system of order numbers for its products, which is known in specialist circles, a competing supplier does not take unfair advantage of the reputation of that distinguishing mark. (see paras 24-25, 27, operative part)