Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 24 June 2004 in Case C-119/02: Commission of the European Communities v Hellenic Republic (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Second subparagraph of Article 3(1) and Article 5(2) of Directive 91/271/EEC — Discharge of urban waste water into a sensitive area — Lack of a collecting system — Lack of treatment more stringent than the secondary treatment provided for in Article 4 of the Directive)
Date: 2004-08-07
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Greece, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, sensitive area, urban centre, wastewater, water treatment

C 201/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

7.8.2004

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Second Chamber)

of 24 June 2004

in Case C-49/02 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
Bauchemie
the

Bundespatentgericht):

Heidelberger

GmbH (1)

still necessary for the competent authority for registering trade marks
to decide whether the combination claimed fulfils the other require-
ments laid down, particularly in Article 3 of the Directive, for regis-
tration as a trade mark in relation to the goods or services of the
undertaking which has applied for its registration. Such an examina-
tion must take account of all the relevant circumstances of the case,
including any use which has been made of the sign in respect of which
trade mark registration is sought. That examination must also take
account of the public interest in not unduly restricting the availability
of colours for other traders who market goods or services of the same
type as those in respect of which registration is sought.

(Trade marks — Harmonisation of
laws — Directive
89/104/EEC — Signs capable of constituting a trade mark
— Combinations of colours — Colours blue and yellow for
certain products used in the building trade)

(1) OJ C 131, 1.6.2002.

(2004/C 201/03)

(Language of the case: German)

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

(Germany)

In Case C-49/02: reference to the Court under Article 234 EC
from the Bundespatentgericht
for a preliminary
ruling in the proceedings brought before that court by Heidel-
berger Bauchemie GmbH — on the interpretation of Article 2
of the 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
(Second
Chamber), composed of: C.W.A. Timmermans, President of the
Chamber, J.-P. Puissochet, J.N. Cunha Rodrigues (Rapporteur),
R. Schintgen and N. Colneric,
Judges; P. Léger, Advocate
General; H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar, for the Registrar,
has given a judgment on 24 June 2004, in which it has ruled:

Colours or combinations of colours which are the subject of an appli-
cation for registration as a trade mark, claimed in the abstract,
without contours, and in shades which are named in words by refer-
ence to a colour sample and specified according to an internationally
recognised colour classification system may constitute a trade mark for
the purposes of Article 2 of the First Council Directive (89/104/EEC)
of 21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member States
relating to trade marks where:

— it has been established that, in the context in which they are used,
those colours or combinations of colours in fact represent a sign,
and

— the application for registration includes a systematic arrangement
associating the colours concerned in a predetermined and uniform
way.

Even if a combination of colours satisfies the requirements for consti-
tuting a trade mark for the purposes of Article 2 of the Directive, it is

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Fourth Chamber)

of 24 June 2004

in Case C-119/02: Commission of the European Commu-
nities v Hellenic Republic (1)

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Second
subparagraph of Article 3(1) and Article 5(2) of Directive
91/271/EEC — Discharge of urban waste water into a sensi-
tive area — Lack of a collecting system — Lack of treatment
more stringent than the secondary treatment provided for in
Article 4 of the Directive)

(2004/C 201/04)

(Language of the case: Greek)

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

In Case C-119/02: Commission of the European Communities
(Agents: G. Valero Jordana and M. Konstantinidis) v Hellenic
Republic (Agent: E. Skandalou) — application for a declaration
that, by not taking the measures necessary for the installation
of a collecting system for urban waste water from the area of
Thriasio Pedio and not subjecting urban waste water from that
area to treatment more stringent
than secondary treatment
before its discharge into the sensitive area of the Gulf of Elef-
its obligations
sina, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil

7.8.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 201/3

the

inasmuch as

(Agents: C. Pesendorfer and M. Fruhmann) — application for a
declaration that,
Landesvergabegesetze
(regional public procurement laws) of the Länder of Salzburg,
Styria, Lower Austria and Carinthia do not in all cases provide
for a review procedure whereby an unsuccessful tenderer may
have an award decision set aside, the Republic of Austria has
failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 2(1)(a) and (b) of
Council Directive 89/665/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the
coordination of the laws, regulations and administrative provi-
sions relating to the application of review procedures to the
award of public supply and public works contracts (OJ 1989 L
395, p. 33) and of Council Directive 92/13/EEC of 25 February
1992 coordinating the laws, regulations and admnistrative
provisions relating to the application of Community rules on
the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water,
energy, transport and telecommunications sectors (OJ 1991 L
76, p. 14) — the Court
(Second Chamber), composed of:
C.W.A. Timmermans, President of the Chamber, J.-P. Puissochet
(Rapporteur), R. Schintgen, F. Macken and N. Colneric, Judges;
M. Poiares Maduro, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has
given a judgment on 24 June 2004, in which it:

1. Declares

that

inasmuch as

the Landesvergabegesetze (regional
public procurement laws) of the Länder of Salzburg, Styria, Lower
Austria and Carinthia do not in all cases provide for a review
procedure whereby an unsuccessful tenderer may have an award
decision set aside, the Republic of Austria has failed to fulfil its
obligations under Article 2(1)(a) and (b) of Council Directive
89/665/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the coordination of the
laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the
application of review procedures to the award of public supply and
public works contracts and of Council Directive 92/13/EEC of 25
February 1992 coordinating the laws, regulations and administra-
tive provisions relating to the application of Community rules on
the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water,
energy, transport and telecommunications sectors;

under Articles 3(1) and 5(2) of Council Directive 91/271/EEC
of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment (OJ
1991 L 135, p. 40), as amended by Commission Directive
98/15/EC of 27 February 1998 (OJ 1998 L 67, p. 29) — the
Court (Fourth Chamber), composed of: J.N. Cunha Rodrigues,
President of
J.-P. Puissochet and F. Macken
(Rapporteur), Judges; F.G. Jacobs, Advocate General; R. Grass,
Registrar, has given a judgment on 24 June 2004, in which it:

the Chamber,

1. Declares that, by not taking the measures necessary for the instal-
lation of a collecting system for urban waste water from the area
of Thriasio Pedio and not subjecting urban waste water from that
area to treatment more stringent than secondary treatment before
its discharge into the sensitive area of the Gulf of Elefsina, the
Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil
its obligations under the
second subparagraph of Article 3(1) and Article 5(2) of Council
Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-
water treatment, as amended by Commission Directive 98/15/EC
of 27 February 1998;

2. Orders the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.

(1) OJ C 131, 1.6.2002.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Second Chamber)

of 24 June 2004

in Case C-212/02: Commission of European Communities
v Austria Republic (1)

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directives
89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC — Inadequate transposition —
Obligation that legislation relating to the award of public
contracts provide for a procedure whereby all unsuccessful
tenderers may have the award decision set aside)

(2004/C 201/05)

(Language of the case: German)

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

2. Orders the Republic of Austria to pay the costs.

In Case C-212/02, Commission of the European Communities
(Agent: M. Nolin, assisted by R. Roniger) v Republic of Austria

(1) OJ C 180, 27.7.2002.