CELEX: C2003/070/23
Language: en
Date: 2003-03-22 00:00:00
Title: Case C-37/03 P: Appeal brought on 3 February 2003 by BioID AG, in judicial liquidation, against the judgment delivered on 5 December 2002 by the Second Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities in Case T-91/01 between BioID AG, in judicial liquidation, and the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs)

C 70/14                EN                      Official Journal of the European Union                                          22.3.2003
Pleas in law and main arguments                                        3.    order the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
                                                                             (Trade Marks and Designs) to pay the costs of the
                                                                             proceedings both at first instance and on appeal.
Article 249 EC, under which a directive shall be binding, as to
the result to be achieved, upon each Member State, carries by
implication an obligation on the Member States to observe the
period for compliance laid down in the directive. That period          Pleas and main arguments
expired on 10 July 2001 without Ireland having enacted the
provisions necessary to comply with the directive referred to          —     Incorrect, overly broad interpretation of the absolute
in the conclusions of the Commission.                                        ground for refusal set out in Article 7(1)(b) of Council
                                                                             Regulation No 40/94 on the Community trade mark:
                                                                             from the point of view of the average consumer, the
( 1) OJ L 175, 10.07.1999, p. 43.                                            mark applied for serves to identify the goods and services
                                                                             in respect of which registration is sought as originating
                                                                             from the appellant and, accordingly, to distinguish those
                                                                             goods and services from those of other undertakings.
                                                                             Considered as a whole, the sign consisting of a word
                                                                             element and additional graphic elements undoubtedly
                                                                             performs the function of providing a guarantee that all
                                                                             the goods or services bearing it have originated under the
                                                                             control of a single undertaking which is responsible for
                                                                             their quality.
Appeal brought on 3 February 2003 by BioID AG, in
                                                                       —     Had the Court of First Instance correctly interpreted the
judicial liquidation, against the judgment delivered on
                                                                             absolute ground for refusal set out in Article 7(1)(b), it
5 December 2002 by the Second Chamber of the Court
                                                                             would have had to examine the further plea alleging
of First Instance of the European Communities in Case
                                                                             infringement of Article 7(1)(c) and to reach the con-
T-91/01 between BioID AG, in judicial liquidation, and                       clusion, on the basis of its findings of fact, that the mark
the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
                                                                             applied for was also not caught by the absolute ground
                   (Trade Marks and Designs)
                                                                             for refusal set out therein which applies where the signs
                                                                             or indications of which a mark consists are of an
                                                                             exclusively descriptive nature. In that regard, the Court of
                        (Case C-37/03 P)                                     Justice may, since the state of the proceedings so permits,
                                                                             give final judgment as provided by Article 54 of the
                                                                             Statute of the Court.
                         (2003/C 70/23)
                                                                       (1 ) Not yet published in the Official Journal of the European
                                                                            Communities.
An appeal against the judgment delivered on 5 December
2002 by the Second Chamber of the Court of First Instance of
the European Communities in Case T-91/01 between BioID
AG, in judicial liquidation, and the Office for Harmonisation
in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) was brought
before the Court of Justice of the European Communities
on 3 February 2003 by BioID AG, in judicial liquidation,
represented by Dr Axel Nordemann, Rechtsanwalt, Boehmert               Action brought on 3 February 2003 by the Commission
& Boehmert, Meinekestr. 26, D-10719 Berlin, with an address            of the European Communities against the Kingdom of
for service in Luxembourg.                                                                          Belgium
                                                                                                (Case C-38/03)
The appellant claims that the Court should:
                                                                                                (2003/C 70/24)
1.    set aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance of
      5 December 2002 in Case T-91/01 BioID AG v Office for
      Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) ( 1);
                                                                       An action against the Kingdom of Belgium was brought
2.    annul the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the          before the Court of Justice of the European Communities
      Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade           on 3 February 2003 by the Commission of the European
      Marks and Designs) of 20 February 2001 in Appeal                 Communities, represented by L. Ström F. Simonetti, acting as
      R 538/1999-2;                                                    Agents.