Case T-95/07: Action brought on 30 March 2007 — Aventis Pharma v OHIM — Altana Pharma (PRAZOL)
Date: 2007-05-26
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: EU trade mark, European Union Intellectual Property Office, action for annulment (EU), pharmaceutical product, trade-mark law

C 117/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

26.5.2007

Pleas in law and main arguments

In 2004 the applicant filed a complaint with the Commission
claiming among others that different aspects of the financement
of a new nuclear power plant under construction in Finland was
state aid that had not been notified. In 2006, the Commission
split
the file into two cases numbered NN 62/A/2006 and
NN 62/B/2006.

the applicant seeks the annulment of
In the present case,
Commission Decision C(2006) 4963 final, which concerns state
aid Case NN 62/B/2006, by which the Commission found that a
credit facility granted by a consortium of five banks and a loan
granted by AB Svensk Exportkredit (‘SEK’) did not constitute aid
within the meaning of Article 87(1) EC.

The applicant submits that the Commission's split of the file
into two separate cases is unlawful from a procedural as well as
a substantive point of view. According to the applicant, it was
only possible to give the credit facility and the loan at such a
low interest
rate because of a guarantee from the French
export credit insurance agency COFACE. However, the state aid
aspects of COFACE's
involvement were dealt with under
Case NN 62/A/2006. The applicant therefore claims that the
splitting up of the file into two separate cases thus taking the
guarantee element out of Case NN 62/B/2006 lead the Commis-
sion to the misunderstanding that the granting of the credit
facility and the SEK loan at such a low interest rate could not
constitute state aid simply because the participating banks were,
according to the Commission, privately owned.

Moreover, the applicant submits that even disregarding the guar-
antee from COFACE the credit
facility as well as the loan
granted by SEK constitutes state aid since:

— the credit facility was granted at a low interest rate with the
participation of the banks BLB and BNP Paribas, which the
applicant alleges are both public banks; and

— the loan from SEK was given by a 100 % state owned bank

at an interest rate below market conditions.

Finally, the applicant invokes a lack of reasoning and a manifest
error of assessment.

Defendant: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
(Trade Marks and Designs)

Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal: Altana
Pharma AG (Konstanz, Germany)

Form of order sought

— Annul the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal OHIM
dated 8 February 2007 Case R 302/2005-4 and confirm the
decision of the Opposition Division of 26 January 2005;

— order the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market to

bear the costs of the appellant in the present instance.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Applicant for the Community trade mark: Altana Pharma AG

Community trade mark concerned: The word mark ‘PRAZOL’ for
goods in class 5 — application No 1 154 269

Proprietor of the mark or sign cited in the opposition proceedings: The
applicant

Mark or sign cited: The national word mark ‘PREZAL’ for goods
in class 5

Decision of the Opposition Division: Opposition upheld

Decision of the Board of Appeal: Annulment of the Opposition
Division's decision and rejection of the opposition

Pleas in law: The Board of Appeal failed to compare the marks
globally taking all relevant factors into account.

Action brought on 23 March 2007 — Telecom Italia Media
v Commission

Action brought on 30 March 2007 — Aventis Pharma v
OHIM — Altana Pharma (PRAZOL)

(Case T-95/07)

(2007/C 117/51)

(Case T-96/07)

(2007/C 117/52)

Language of the case: Italian

Language in which the application was lodged: English

Parties

Parties

Applicant: Telecom Italia Media S.p.A. (Rome, Italy) (represented
by: F. Bassan and S. Venturini, avvocati)

Applicant: Aventis Pharma SA (Antony, France) (represented by:
R. Gilbey, lawyer)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities