Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2015:834
Date: 2015-12-17
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling;Reference for a preliminary ruling - decision unnecessary
Origin: Germany

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber), 4 February 2016 Community trade mark — Community trade mark as an object of property — Effects in respect of third parties — Right of the licensee to bring proceedings for infringement notwithstanding the fact that the licence has not been entered in the Register (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 23(1)) The first sentence of Article 23(1) of Regulation No 207/2009 on the Community trade mark must be interpreted as meaning that the licensee may bring proceedings alleging infringement of a Community trade mark which is the subject of the licence, although that licence has not been entered in the Register of Community trade marks. Despite the fact that, read in isolation, that sentence could be interpreted as meaning that the licensee cannot, if the licence has not been entered in the Register, rely on the rights conferred by that licence vis-à-vis third parties, including the party infringing the trade mark, the Court of Justice points out that, in interpreting a provision of EU law, it is necessary to consider not only its wording but also the context in which it occurs and the objectives pursued by the rules of which it is part. With regard to the purpose of the rule laid down in the first sentence of Article 23(1) of Regulation No 207/2009, the Court takes the view that the lack of effects, vis-à-vis third parties, of the legal acts referred to in Articles 17, 19 and 22 of the regulation which have not been entered in the Register of Community trade marks is intended to protect a person who has, or may have, rights in a Community trade mark as an object of property. It follows that the first sentence of Article 23(1) of the Regulation does not apply to a situation in which a third party, by infringing the mark, infringes the rights conferred by the Community trade mark. (see paras 18, 19, 25, 26, operative part)