CELEX: C2002/289/60
Language: en
Date: 2002-11-23 00:00:00
Title: Case T-288/02: Action brought on 23 September 2002 by Asian Institute of Technology against Commission of the European Communities

C 289/32               EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                  23.11.2002
Decision of the Oppo-          rejection of the application for           principle of sound administration in that it did not ascertain
sition Division:               registration                               the powers of the director of the ‘Center Energy-Environment
                                                                          Research and Development’, which is merely a department of
Decision of the Board of       rejection of the applicant’s appeal        the applicant with no legal personality.
Appeal:
Grounds of claim:              —    since the word ‘mou’ in Lao-
                                    tian and Thai means ‘porc’,
                                    the trade mark ‘MOU’ is
                                    merely descriptive and thus
                                    may not be protected;
                                                                          Action brought on 23 September 2002 by Asian Institute
                               —    registration of the trade             of Technology against Commission of the European
                                    mark ‘MOU’ would in fact                                        Communities
                                    prevent the use of a word
                                    with meaning which must be
                                    used in order to describe the                                 (Case T-288/02)
                                    nature of the product to be
                                    sold.                                                         (2002/C 289/60)
                                                                                             (Language of the case: French)
Action brought on 23 September 2002 by Asian Institute                    An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
of Technology against Commission of the European                          ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
                          Communities                                     European Communities on 23 September 2002 by the Asian
                                                                          Institute of Technology, whose registered office is at Klong
                        (Case T-287/02)                                   Luang (Thailand), represented by Henri Teissier du Cros,
                                                                          lawyer, with an address for service in Luxembourg.
                        (2002/C 289/59)
                                                                          The applicant claims that the Court should:
                   (Language of the case: French)
                                                                          —     annul the decision of the European Commission of
                                                                                22 February 2002 to conclude a research contract with
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                       the alleged director of the ‘Center Energy-Environment
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the                      Research and Development’ (CEERD) of the Asian Insti-
European Communities on 23 September 2002 by the Asian                          tute of Technology.
Institute of Technology, whose registered office is at Klong
Luang (Thailand), represented by Henri Teissier du Cros,
lawyer, with an address for service in Luxembourg.
                                                                          Pleas in law and main arguments
The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                          The Commission, by the contested decision, entered into a
—      annul the decision of the European Commission of 4 July            research contract with the ‘Center Energy-Environment
       2000 to conclude a research contract with the director of          Research and Development’, allegedly represented by its direc-
       the ‘Center Energy-Environment Research and Develop-               tor. That centre is a department of the applicant with no legal
       ment’ (CEERD) of the Asian Institute of Technology.                personality. The applicant further states that the person
                                                                          who signed the contract as director of the ‘Center Energy-
                                                                          Environment Research and Development’ left the department
Pleas in law and main arguments                                           on 31 December 2001. The contract was a follow-up contract
                                                                          to that at issue in Case T-287/02.
The Commission, by the contested decision, entered into a
research contract with the ‘Center Energy-Environment                     According to the applicant, the alleged director of the ‘Center
Research and Development’, represented by its director. That              Energy-Environment Research and Development’ had no man-
centre is a department of the applicant with no legal person-             date to conclude such a contract. The Commission thus
ality.                                                                    infringed the principle of sound administration in that it did
                                                                          not ascertain the powers of the director nor whether the
According to the applicant, the director of the ‘Center Energy-           person concerned was in fact a director.
Environment Research and Development’ had no mandate to
conclude such a contract. The Commission thus infringed the