Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2002:287
Date: 2002-05-14
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Full Court
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Intellectual, industrial and commercial property;Approximation of laws
Concepts: Effects of a mark
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment
Approximation of laws — Trade marks — Directive 89/104 — Right for the owner of a
registered trade mark to contest its use by a third party — Use for descriptive purposes
and excluding an indication of the origin of the goods — No right of opposition
(Council Directive 89/104, Art. 5(1))
I-4187
SUMMARY — CASE C-2/00
Article 5(1) of First Council Directive
89/104 on trade marks is to be interpreted
as meaning that the proprietor of a trade
mark cannot rely on his exclusive right
where a third party, in the course of
commercial negotiations, reveals that
goods are produced by him and use the
trade mark in question solely to denote the
particular characteristics of the goods he is
offering for sale so that there can be no
question of the trade mark used being
interpreted as referring to the undertaking
of origin of the goods.
In a situation, the use of the trade mark
does not infringe any of the interests which
Article 5(1) is intended to protect.
(see paras 16-17, operative part)
I-4188