Judgment of the Court of 4 October 2001 in Case C-517/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Bundespatentgericht): Merz & Krell GmbH & Co (Trade marks — Approximation of laws — Article 3(1)(d) of First Directive 89/104/EEC — Grounds for refusal or invalidity — Trade marks which consist exclusively of signs or indications which have become customary in the current language or in the bona fide and established practices of the trade — Need for signs or indications to have become customary to designate the goods or services in respect of which registration of the mark is sought — No need for the signs or indications to be directly descriptive of the properties or characteristics of the goods or services in respect of which registration of the mark is sought)
Date: 2001-11-10
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: advertising, approximation of laws, interpretation of the law, product quality, trade-mark law

10.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 317/5

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

of 4 October 2001

in Case C-517/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Bundespatentgericht): Merz & Krell GmbH & Co (1)

(Trade marks — Approximation of laws — Article 3(1)(d)
of First Directive 89/104/EEC — Grounds for refusal or
invalidity — Trade marks which consist exclusively of signs
or indications which have become customary in the current
language or in the bona fide and established practices of the
trade — Need for signs or indications to have become
customary to designate the goods or services in respect of
which registration of the mark is sought — No need for the
signs or indications to be directly descriptive of the properties
or characteristics of the goods or services in respect of which
registration of the mark is sought)

(2001/C 317/08)

(Language of the case: German)

(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
in the European Court Reports)

In Case C-517/99: reference to the Court under Article 177 of
the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) from the Bundespatentge-
richt (Federal Patents Court) (Germany) for a preliminary ruling
in the proceedings pending before that court by Merz & Krell
GmbH & Co — on the interpretation of Article 3(1)(d) of First
Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 to
approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade
marks (OJ 1989 L 40, p. 1) — the Court, composed of:
G.C. Rodrı´guez Iglesias, President, C. Gulmann, M. Wathelet
and V. Skouris (Presidents of Chambers), J.-.P. Puissochet,
P.
Jann, L. Sevo´ n, R. Schintgen, F. Macken (Rapporteur),
N. Colneric and C.W.A. Timmermans, Judges; D. Ruı´z-Jarabo
Colomer, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a
judgment on 4 October 2001, in which it has ruled:

1. Article 3(1)(d) of First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of
21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member
States relating to trade marks must be interpreted as only
precluding registration of a trade mark where the signs or
indications of which the mark is exclusively composed have
become customary in the current language or in the bona fide
and established practices of the trade to designate the goods or
services in respect of which registration of that mark is sought.

2. Article 3(1)(d) must also be interpreted as meaning that it
subjects refusal to register a trade mark to the sole condition
the signs or indications of which the trade mark is
that

exclusively composed have become customary in the current
language or in the bona fide and established practices of the
trade to designate the goods or services in respect of which
registration of that mark is sought. It is immaterial, when that
provision is applied, whether the signs or indications in question
describe the properties or characteristics of those goods or
services.

(1) OJ C 79 of 18.3.2000.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(First Chamber)

of 27 September 2001

in Case C-16/00 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
the tribunal administratif de Lille): Cibo Participations SA
v Directeur régional des impôts du Nord-Pas-de-Calais (1)

(Sixth VAT Directive — Economic activity — Involvement
of a holding company in the management of its subsidiaries
— Deduction of VAT charged on services purchased by a
holding company in the context of the acquisition of a
shareholding in a subsidiary — Receipt of dividends by a
holding company)

(2001/C 317/09)

(Language of the case: French)

(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
in the European Court Reports)

In Case C-16/00: reference to the Court under Article 234 EC
by the tribunal administratif de Lille (Administrative Court,
Lille)
(France) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings
pending before that court between Cibo Participations SA and
Directeur régional des impôts du Nord-Pas-de-Calais — on the
interpretation of Article 4(1) and (2), Article 13B(d) arid
Article 17(2)(a) and (5) of
the Sixth Council Directive
77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the
laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes —
Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assess-
ment (OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1) — the Court (First Chamber),
composed of: M. Wathelet, President of the Chamber, P. Jann
and L. Sevo´ n (Rapporteur), Judges; C. Stix-Hackl, Advocate
General; D. Louterman-Hubeau, Head of Division, for the
Registrar, has given a judgment on 27 September 2001, in
which it has ruled: