Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 24 June 2004 in Case C-49/02 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Bundespatentgericht): Heidelberger Bauchemie GmbH (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)
Date: 2004-08-07
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: approximation of laws, interpretation of the law, trade mark, trade-mark law

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