CELEX: C2003/019/19
Language: en
Date: 2003-01-25 00:00:00
Title: Case C-387/02: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunale di Milano, Prima Sezione penale by order of that court of 26 October 2002 in criminal proceedings against Silvio Berlusconi

C 19/10                 EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                      25.1.2003
       former employee, at his request, the documents relating to his      Chamber) of 26 October 2002 received at the Court Registry
       qualifications and professional experience gained during his        on 31 October 2002, for a preliminary ruling in the criminal
       employment.                                                         proceedings against Silvio Berlusconi on the following ques-
                                                                           tions:
( 1) OJ C 303, 27.10.2001.
                                                                           1.    Does Article 6 of Directive 68/151/EEC ( 1) on co-ordi-
                                                                                 nation of safeguards which, for the protection of the
                                                                                 interests of members and others, are required by Member
                                                                                 States of companies within the meaning of the second
                                                                                 paragraph of Article 58 of the Treaty, with a view
                                                                                 to making such safeguards equivalent throughout the
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Bundespat-                             Community concern not only cases of failure to publish
entgericht by order of that Court of 26 June 2002 in the                         the balance sheet and profit and loss account, but also
complaint proceedings of Deutsche Telekom AG against
                                                                                 cases where those documents are published but their
           DKV Deutsche Krankenversicherung AG                                   contents are false, given that the harm to the interests of
                                                                                 members and third parties is clearly greater in the latter
                          (Case C-367/02)                                        case? Is the directive intended in that respect to lay down
                                                                                 a minimum level of protection at Community level
                           (2003/C 19/18)                                        leaving it to the Member States to put in place means of
                                                                                 protection against the submitting of false balance sheets
                                                                                 or the publishing of false company accounts?
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by order of the (Federal Patent Court)                2.    Do the criteria of effectiveness, proportionality and
of 26 June 2002, received at the Court Registry on 14 October                    dissuasiveness, which the penalties to be adopted by the
2002, for a preliminary ruling in the complaint proceedings                      Member States under Council Directive 68/151 must
of Deutsche Telekom AG against DKV Deutsche Krankenver-                          satisfy in order to be regarded as ‘appropriate’, refer to
sicherung AG on the following question:                                          the nature or type of penalty considered in the abstract,
                                                                                 or rather to its application in practice having regard to
Do the words ‘association with the earlier trade mark’ in the                    the structural characteristics of the legal system within
second part of Article 4(1)(b) of the Trademarks Directive (1)                   which it takes effect?
apply to the case where the earlier trade mark is attributed to
the later trade mark, the later trade mark having been formed
by adding a well known company logo, or an element in a                    3.    Are the principles set out in Council Directive 78/660/
trade mark series belonging to the owner of the later trade                      EEC (2) of 25 July 1978 based on Article 54(3)(g) of the
mark, to the earlier trade mark, which is a one-word logo                        Treaty on the annual accounts of certain types of
which is neither the undertaking’s logo nor an element in a                      companies, Council Directive 83/349/EEC (3) of 13 June
trade mark series and is of average distinctiveness?                             1983 based on Article 54(3)(g) of the Treaty on consoli-
                                                                                 dated accounts and Council Directive 90/605/EEC (4) of
                                                                                 8 November 1990 amending Directive 78/660/EEC on
( 1) First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 to                   annual accounts and Directive 83/349/EEC on consoli-
     approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade                 dated accounts as regards the scope of those directives,
     marks (OJ L 40 of 11.02.1989, p. 1).                                        upon which national measures relating to the drafting
                                                                                 and contents of annual accounts and annual reports, in
                                                                                 particular, of capital companies, must be based, to be
                                                                                 interpreted as precluding a Member State from setting
                                                                                 minimum thresholds below which inaccurate statements
                                                                                 in annual accounts and annual reports relating to com-
                                                                                 panies limited by shares, partnerships limited by shares
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunale di                           and limited liability companies are not punishable?
Milano, Prima Sezione penale by order of that court of
26 October 2002 in criminal proceedings against Silvio
                             Berlusconi
                                                                           (1 ) OJ, English Special Edition 1968 (I), p. 41.
                          (Case C-387/02)                                  (2 ) OJ 1978 L 222, p. 11.
                                                                           (3 ) OJ 1983 L 193, p. 1.
                           (2003/C 19/19)                                  (4 ) OJ 1990 L 317, p. 60.
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by order of the Tribunale di Milano,
Prima Sezione penale (Milan District Court, First Criminal