CELEX: C1999/246/71
Language: en
Date: 1999-08-28 00:00:00
Title: Case T-120/99: Action brought on 19 May 1999 by C. Kik against the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (trade marks and designs)

28.8.1999              EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                      C 246/35
Commission to offset against debts owed by it, arising from             The applicant argues that the aforementioned Article 115 and
non-contractual prescriptive obligations, contractual debts due         Rule 1(1)(j) are invalid and lack binding force because they
to it which are governed by the laws of a Member State — in             infringe Article 12 EC (ex Article 6) and Article 1 of Council
this case, Belgium — to which the MED-URBS contracts refer.             Regulation No 1 (2). While the Community trade mark may be
                                                                        lodged in the Dutch language, one of the five working
The applicant also pleads breaches of the principles of legal           languages of the Office must be used during the subsequent
certainty and of the protection of legitimate expectations, and         procedure and in opposition proceedings. This rule on
of the obligation to provide a statement of reasons for                 languages places the applicant at a disadvantage vis-à-vis trade
measures adopted.                                                       mark agents from Member States whose languages feature
                                                                        among the official working languages of the Office.
                                                                        (1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 of 13 December
                                                                            1995 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 on the
                                                                            Community trade mark (OJ 1995 L 303, p. 1).
                                                                        (2) Council Regulation of 15 April 1958 determining the languages
                                                                            to be used by the European Economic Community (OJ, English
Action brought on 19 May 1999 by C. Kik against the                         Special Edition 1952-1958, p. 59).
Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (trade
                       marks and designs)
                        (Case T-120/99)
                        (1999/C 246/71)
                                                                        Action brought on 21 May 1999 by Enrique Gutiérrez de
                   (Language of the case: Dutch)                            Quijano y Llorens against the European Parliament
An action against the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal                                   (Case T-125/99)
Market (trade marks and designs) was brought before the
Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 19                                        (1999/C 246/72)
May 1999 by C. Kik, trade mark agent, The Hague, represented
by G.L. Kooy, of the Bar of The Hague, with an address for
service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of N. Decker, 16                                     (Language of the case: Spanish)
Avenue Marie-Thérèse.
                                                                        An action against the European Parliament was brought before
The applicant claims that the Court should:                             the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on
                                                                        21 May 1999 by Enrique Gutiérrez de Quijano y Llorens,
1. declare her application to be well founded;                          represented by Juan Ramón Iturriagagoitia, with an address for
                                                                        service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Stephan Le Goueff,
2. annul, or review, the decision of the Board of Appeal,               9 Avenue Guillaume, 1651 Luxembourg.
     Third Chamber, rejecting her application for registration
     of the (Community) trade mark KIK and, ruling afresh,
     annul the decision taken by the Office on 19 March 1999;           The applicant claims that the Court should:
3. in the alternative, rule that all formal requirements were           — partially annul Notice of Open Competition PE/215/LA of
     satisfied with regard to the application for registration of            the General Secretariat of the European Parliament — as
     the trade mark KIK;                                                     regards ‘option 2’ — published in Official Journal of the
                                                                             European Communities No C-53 A of 24 February 1999;
4. in the further alternative, rule that the applicant is not
     obliged to submit only one of the Office’s official working        — order the European Parliament to pay the costs.
     languages as a second language;
5. order the Office to pay the costs of the proceedings.                Pleas in law and main arguments
                                                                        The applicant, an official of the Court of Justice and a former
Pleas in law and main arguments                                         official of the European Parliament, contests Notice of Open
                                                                        Competition PE/215/LA in that, in one of its options, that
The applicant’s application for registration of the trade mark          notice provides for the drawing up of a reserve list of
KIK for ‘providing advice on situations of unfair competition           Spanish-language interpreters. It must be remembered in this
on the European Community market (Class 42)’ was submitted              connection that, by judgment of 22 May 1996 (1), upheld on
in the Dutch language. Dutch was also indicated as the second           appeal by judgment of the Court of Justice of 19 November
language. The application was rejected on the ground that it            1998 (2), the Court of First Instance annulled the decision of
failed to comply with Rule 1(1)(j) of Regulation No 2868/95 (1)         the defendant institution rejecting the applicant’s complaint
and Article 115(3) of Regulation No 40/94 with regard to the            against the rejection of his candidature for the post advertised
second language. The Board of Appeal confirmed the decision             in Notice PE/LA91 for the recruitment by transfer of a
of the examiner.                                                        Spanish-language interpreter.