Commission Communication of 3 December 1999 on the Commission findings concerning reciprocal treatment with the Principality of Andorra within the meaning of Article 5(1)(d) and (3) and Article 29(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 on the Community trade mark
Date: 1999-12-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Andorra, EU national, EU trade mark, European Union Intellectual Property Office, equal treatment

11.12.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 359/31

COMMISSION COMMUNICATION

of 3 December 1999

on the Commission findings concerning reciprocal treatment with the Principality of Andorra
within the meaning of Article 5(1)(d) and (3) and Article 29(5) of Council Regulation (EC)
No 40/94 on the Community trade mark

(1999/C 359/08)

Under Rule 101(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2868/95
of 13 December 1995 implementing Council Regulation (EC)
No 40/94 on the Community trade mark (1), the President of
the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM)
asked the Commission to establish whether the Principality of
Andorra accorded to nationals of all Member States of the
Community reciprocal
treatment within the meaning of
Article 5(1)(d) and (3) and Article 29(5) of Council Regulation
(EC) No 40/94 (2), hereinafter referred to as (cid:145)the Community
Trade Mark Regulation(cid:146), as amended by Regulation (EC) No
3288/94 (3).

The Commission has examined the corresponding trade mark
laws and has exchanged correspondence with the authorities of
the Principality of Andorra.

(cid:151) Under Article 5(1)(d) of the Community Trade Mark Regu-
lation, nationals of any State which is not party to the Paris
Convention and which, according to published findings,
accords to nationals of all the Member States the same
protection for
to its own
nationals may be proprietors of Community trade marks.

trade marks as

it accords

Likewise, under paragraph (c) of Article 5 of the Andorran
law on trade marks, a national of another State which
grants the same protection to nationals of the Principality
of Andorra as it does to its own nationals with respect to
trade marks, may be owner of the registration of a mark in
the Principality of Andorra.

Moreover, the Andorran legislation on trade marks does
not entail any obligation to the applicant regarding the
need to prove the previous registration of a trade mark
in the country of origin within the meaning of Article
5(1)(d) of
the Community Trade Mark Regulation.
Therefore, Article 5(3) of that Regulation does not apply
in this case.

Finally, on a request for information on the application of
Article 5 of the Andorran Trade Mark Law in respect of
nationals of the European Union, the Andorran authorities
have given proof that the current practice of the Andorran
trade mark office is to grant to nationals of all Member

(1) OJ L 303, 15.12.1995, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 11, 14.1.1994, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 349 vom 31.12.1994, p. 83.

States the same protection as it does to its own nationals
with regard to trade marks.

Accordingly, OHIM shall accept, pursuant to Article 5(1) of
the Community Trade Mark Regulation,
trade mark
applications from nationals of the Principality of Andorra.

(cid:151) Under Article 29(5) of the Community Trade Mark Regu-
lation, a person who has duly filed an application for a
trade mark in a State which is not a party to the Paris
Convention or to the Agreement establishing the World
Trade Organisation, may only claim the priority date of
that filing for the purpose of the filing of that mark as a
Community trade mark, in so far as the State concerned
accepts Community trade mark applications as a first filing
for the purpose of the claiming of priority in relation to the
filing of the same mark as its own trade mark office.

In this sense, the Andorran trade mark law states in its
Article 6(5) that, provided that a State grants nationals of
the Principality of Andorra a right of priority subject to
conditions and having effects equivalent to those of the
right of priority provided for in the said Article, nationals
of that State may claim the right of priority provided for in
Article 6 of the Andorran trade mark law in the Principality
of Andorra.

the application of

Having been consulted about
that
the Member
provision in relation to applicants of all
States or in relation to rights of priority derived from a
first filing in any of the Member States or in the OHIM, the
Andorran authorities have given proof that the Andorran
trade mark office grants the right of priority set out in
Article 29 of the Community Trade Mark Regulation.

the Community Trade Mark Regulation,

Therefore, the OHIM shall accept, pursuant to Article 29(5)
trade mark
of
priority claims deriving from a first application for the
registration of a trade mark with the Andorran trade
mark office.

Conclusions

This examination has shown that the Principality of Andorra’s
law on trade marks, and the practice of the Andorran trade
mark office, afford nationals of all Member States the same
protection in the matter of trade marks as its own nationals.
Thus, under Article 5(1)(d) of
the Community Trade Mark
Regulation, Andorran nationals may become proprietors of a
Community trade mark.

C 359/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

11.12.1999

Applicants for a Community trade mark need not prove the
prior registration in the Principality of Andorra of the trade
mark for which they have filed a Community trade mark
application.

the Principality of
This examination has also shown that
Andorra’s
the
Andorran trade mark office, grants, on the basis of a first
filing made at the OHIM and subject to conditions equivalent

law on trade marks, and the pratice of

to those laid down in the Community Trade Mark Regulation, a
right of priority as set out in Article 29 of that Regulation.

Therefore, the OHIM shall accept, pursuant to Article 29(5) of
the Community Trade Mark Regulation, priority claims
deriving from a first application for the registration of a
trade mark with the Andorran trade mark office.

These findings shall take effect on 1 April 1996.

Addition to the list of economic areas specified by France with a view to the extension of
application of the rules of fruit and vegetable producer organisations

(1999/C 359/09)

(Application of Article 18(7) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96)

Economic area

Products concerned

Comprises the following production areas:

Beans for shelling, green beans and peas,
processing.

intended for

1. Normandy (cid:151) North (cid:151) Picardy (cid:151) Champagne-
Ardenne,
of Aisne,
the
Ardennes, Eure, Marne, Nord, Oise, Pas-de-Calais,
Seine-Maritime and Somme;

departments

covering

2. ˛le-de-France (cid:151) Centre, covering the departments of
Seine-et-Marne,

Eure-et-Loir,
Yvelines, Essonne and Val-d’Oise;

Loir-et-Cher,

Loiret,

3. Brittany (cid:151) Loire Region, covering the departments of
C(cid:244)tes-d’Armor,
Loire-
Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Morbihan,
Sarthe and VendØe;

Ille-et-Vilaine,

FinistŁre,

4. Aquitaine (cid:151) Midi-PyrØnØes, covering the departments
Lot-et-Garonne,
Landes,
of Gers, Gironde,
PyrØnØes-Atlantiques, Hautes-PyrØnØes, Tarn and Tarn-
et-Garonne;

Lot,

5. Burgundy (cid:151) Franche-ComtØ, covering the depart-

ments of C(cid:244)te-d’Or, Jura and Sa(cid:244)ne-et-Loire.