Case T-288/02: Action brought on 23 September 2002 by Asian Institute of Technology against Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2002-11-23
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: action for annulment (EU), contract, energy research, power of attorney, research body

C 289/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

23.11.2002

Decision of the Oppo-
sition Division:

rejection of the application for
registration

Decision of the Board of
Appeal:

Grounds of claim:

rejection of the applicant’s appeal

— since the word ‘mou’ in Lao-
tian and Thai means ‘porc’,
the trade mark ‘MOU’
is
merely descriptive and thus
may not be protected;

— registration of

the

trade
mark ‘MOU’ would in fact
prevent the use of a word
with meaning which must be
used in order to describe the
nature of the product to be
sold.

Action brought on 23 September 2002 by Asian Institute
of Technology against Commission of the European
Communities

(Case T-287/02)

(2002/C 289/59)

(Language of the case: French)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 23 September 2002 by the Asian
Institute of Technology, whose registered office is at Klong
Luang (Thailand), represented by Henri Teissier du Cros,
lawyer, with an address for service in Luxembourg.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul the decision of the European Commission of 4 July
2000 to conclude a research contract with the director of
the ‘Center Energy-Environment Research and Develop-
ment’ (CEERD) of the Asian Institute of Technology.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Commission, by the contested decision, entered into a
research contract with the ‘Center Energy-Environment
Research and Development’, represented by its director. That
centre is a department of the applicant with no legal person-
ality.

According to the applicant, the director of the ‘Center Energy-
Environment Research and Development’ had no mandate to
conclude such a contract. The Commission thus infringed the

principle of sound administration in that it did not ascertain
the powers of the director of the ‘Center Energy-Environment
Research and Development’, which is merely a department of
the applicant with no legal personality.

Action brought on 23 September 2002 by Asian Institute
of Technology against Commission of the European
Communities

(Case T-288/02)

(2002/C 289/60)

(Language of the case: French)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 23 September 2002 by the Asian
Institute of Technology, whose registered office is at Klong
Luang (Thailand), represented by Henri Teissier du Cros,
lawyer, with an address for service in Luxembourg.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul the decision of the European Commission of
22 February 2002 to conclude a research contract with
the alleged director of the ‘Center Energy-Environment
Research and Development’ (CEERD) of the Asian Insti-
tute of Technology.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Commission, by the contested decision, entered into a
research contract with the ‘Center Energy-Environment
Research and Development’, allegedly represented by its direc-
tor. That centre is a department of the applicant with no legal
personality. The applicant
the person
who signed the contract as director of the ‘Center Energy-
Environment Research and Development’ left the department
on 31 December 2001. The contract was a follow-up contract
to that at issue in Case T-287/02.

further states that

According to the applicant, the alleged director of the ‘Center
Energy-Environment Research and Development’ had no man-
date to conclude such a contract. The Commission thus
infringed the principle of sound administration in that it did
not ascertain the powers of the director nor whether the
person concerned was in fact a director.