CELEX: C2001/317/08
Language: en
Date: 2001-11-10 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 4 October 2001 in Case C-517/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Bundespatentgericht): Merz & Krell GmbH & Co (Trade marks — Approximation of laws — Article 3(1)(d) of First Directive 89/104/EEC — Grounds for refusal or invalidity — Trade marks which consist exclusively of signs or indications which have become customary in the current language or in the bona fide and established practices of the trade — Need for signs or indications to have become customary to designate the goods or services in respect of which registration of the mark is sought — No need for the signs or indications to be directly descriptive of the properties or characteristics of the goods or services in respect of which registration of the mark is sought)

10.11.2001                EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                              C 317/5
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                            exclusively composed have become customary in the current
                                                                                   language or in the bona fide and established practices of the
                                                                                   trade to designate the goods or services in respect of which
                          of 4 October 2001                                        registration of that mark is sought. It is immaterial, when that
                                                                                   provision is applied, whether the signs or indications in question
                                                                                   describe the properties or characteristics of those goods or
in Case C-517/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from                          services.
  the Bundespatentgericht): Merz & Krell GmbH & Co (1)
                                                                             (1) OJ C 79 of 18.3.2000.
(Trade marks — Approximation of laws — Article 3(1)(d)
of First Directive 89/104/EEC — Grounds for refusal or
invalidity — Trade marks which consist exclusively of signs
or indications which have become customary in the current
language or in the bona fide and established practices of the
trade — Need for signs or indications to have become
customary to designate the goods or services in respect of
which registration of the mark is sought — No need for the
signs or indications to be directly descriptive of the properties                             JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
or characteristics of the goods or services in respect of which
                registration of the mark is sought)
                                                                                                       (First Chamber)
                            (2001/C 317/08)                                                         of 27 September 2001
                     (Language of the case: German)                          in Case C-16/00 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
                                                                             the tribunal administratif de Lille): Cibo Participations SA
                                                                              v Directeur régional des impôts du Nord-Pas-de-Calais (1)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                     in the European Court Reports)                          (Sixth VAT Directive — Economic activity — Involvement
                                                                             of a holding company in the management of its subsidiaries
                                                                             — Deduction of VAT charged on services purchased by a
In Case C-517/99: reference to the Court under Article 177 of                holding company in the context of the acquisition of a
the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) from the Bundespatentge-                  shareholding in a subsidiary — Receipt of dividends by a
richt (Federal Patents Court) (Germany) for a preliminary ruling                                       holding company)
in the proceedings pending before that court by Merz & Krell
GmbH & Co — on the interpretation of Article 3(1)(d) of First                                           (2001/C 317/09)
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, composed of:                                              (Language of the case: French)
G.C. Rodrı́guez Iglesias, President, C. Gulmann, M. Wathelet
and V. Skouris (Presidents of Chambers), J.-.P. Puissochet,
P. Jann, L. Sevón, R. Schintgen, F. Macken (Rapporteur),                    (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
N. Colneric and C.W.A. Timmermans, Judges; D. Ruı́z-Jarabo                                       in the European Court Reports)
Colomer, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a
judgment on 4 October 2001, in which it has ruled:
                                                                             In Case C-16/00: reference to the Court under Article 234 EC
                                                                             by the tribunal administratif de Lille (Administrative Court,
                                                                             Lille) (France) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings
1.    Article 3(1)(d) of First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of               pending before that court between Cibo Participations SA and
      21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member                 Directeur régional des impôts du Nord-Pas-de-Calais — on the
      States relating to trade marks must be interpreted as only             interpretation of Article 4(1) and (2), Article 13B(d) arid
      precluding registration of a trade mark where the signs or             Article 17(2)(a) and (5) of the Sixth Council Directive
      indications of which the mark is exclusively composed have             77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the
      become customary in the current language or in the bona fide           laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes —
      and established practices of the trade to designate the goods or       Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assess-
      services in respect of which registration of that mark is sought.      ment (OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1) — the Court (First Chamber),
                                                                             composed of: M. Wathelet, President of the Chamber, P. Jann
                                                                             and L. Sevón (Rapporteur), Judges; C. Stix-Hackl, Advocate
2.    Article 3(1)(d) must also be interpreted as meaning that it            General; D. Louterman-Hubeau, Head of Division, for the
      subjects refusal to register a trade mark to the sole condition        Registrar, has given a judgment on 27 September 2001, in
      that the signs or indications of which the trade mark is               which it has ruled: