WRITTEN QUESTION E-2778/01

by Didier Rod (Verts/ALE), Alain Lipietz (Verts/ALE)and Pierre Jonckheer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(9 October 2001)

Subject: Ownership of the euro logo

The press(1)(2) has recently reported on a legal wrangle which could jeopardise the launch of the euro and cost the Commission several million euros.

According to the articles in question, Travelex, a subsidiary of Thomas Cook, has filed a case with the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg claiming trade mark infringement, based on the similarity between the euro symbol and the company's own logo which, it claims, has been registered since 1989 seven years before the euro symbol was adopted.

It must be said that Travelex is a foreign exchange office and therefore has much to lose from the forthcoming introduction of the euro. And of course there is no certainty that it will win its case before the European Court of Justice.

Unfortunately, this uncertainty will not be sufficient to restore the euro's vitality and credibility only a few weeks before its launch.

The fact that no one inside the European institutions has so far shown any concern for this particular aspect of the matter is baffling, especially in view of the issue's importance.

What is also incomprehensible is the fact that the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (trade marks and designs) (http://www.oami.eu.int), based in Alicante, is a European institution which is officially responsible for registering Community trade marks and, in the near future, Community designs. What then is its purpose in actual practice?

Will the Commission state whether these allegations are accurate and clarify the following points:

- Did the Commission carry out appropriate studies, in particular with regard to registered trade marks and designs, before adopting a symbol for the euro?

- Was the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market consulted in this context?

- If the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market was not consulted, did it not have at least a moral duty to take the initiative of carrying out such a check as soon as a euro symbol was adopted?

More generally, does the Commission have an inventory of the trade marks and designs which it uses? Have these trade marks and designs been registered? If so, with whom?

(1) Legal action puts euro launch at risk, article by Martin Banks in European Voice, Volume 7, No 27.

(2) Euro symbol at centre of bizarre row, article by Andrew Osborn in The Guardian (27 July 2001).

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(3 December 2001)

The Commission is aware of the actions launched by Thomas Cook on the euro logo.

As the whole of the dossier is subject to an action before the Court of First Instance of the Communities, no written or oral statement can be made by the Commission as regards the various arguments raised.

Nevertheless, the Commission considers that this action cannot affect the date of the introduction of the euro banknotes and coins.

As regards the role of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (trade marks and designs), its main task is to carry out registration procedures for Community trade marks and, in the future, Community designs.

Its competencies, which are strictly established through the relevant Community Regulations, are exclusively technical and do not include any consultancy work to third parties. This does not prejudge the possibility of those third parties to consult the public registers kept by the Office for this purpose.

Finally, as regards the Honourable Member's more general question on an inventory of distinctive signs, the Commission runs a list of signs registered as trademarks on behalf of the Communities.