CELEX: C2002/003/23
Language: en
Date: 2002-01-05 00:00:00
Title: Case C-418/01: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Landgericht Frankfurt am Main by order of that court of 12 July 2001 in the case of IMS Health GmbH & Co. OHG v NDC Health GmbH & Co

C 3/16                EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                       5.1.2002
2.   If the answer to Question 1(a) is in the affirmative:             3.    Is the material outlay (in particular in regard to costs) in
                                                                             which clients who have hitherto been supplied with the
                                                                             product of the undertaking having a dominant market
     (a)   Must the question concerning the similarity between               position would be involved if they were in future to go
           the trade mark and the sign in such a case be                     over to purchasing the product of a competing undertak-
           assessed on the basis of a criterion other than that              ing which does not make use of the data bank protected
           of (direct or indirect) confusion as to origin, and if            by copyright relevant to the question of abusive conduct
           so, according to what criterion?                                  by an undertaking with a dominant position on the
                                                                             market?
     (b) If the sign alleged to be an infringement in such a
           case is viewed purely as an embellishment by the
           relevant section of the public, what importance must
           be attached to that circumstance in connection with
           the question concerning the similarity between the
           trade mark and the sign?
                                                                       Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Bundesverga-
                                                                       beamt (Austria) by order of 25 September 2001 in the
                                                                       case of Traunfellner GmbH v Österreichische Autobah-
                                                                          nen- und Schnellstrassen-Finanzierungs-AG (ÖSAG)
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Landgericht
Frankfurt am Main by order of that court of 12 July 2001                                       (Case C-421/01)
in the case of IMS Health GmbH & Co. OHG v NDC
                      Health GmbH & Co
                                                                                                (2002/C 3/24)
                        (Case C-418/01)
                          (2002/C 3/23)
                                                                       Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                       European Communities by order of 25 September 2001 by
                                                                       the Bundesvergabeamt (Austrian Federal Procurement Office),
                                                                       which was received at the Court Registry on 24 October 2001,
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                 for a preliminary ruling in the case of Traunfellner GmbH v
European Communities by order of the Landgericht Frankfurt             Österreichische Autobahnen- und Schnellstrassen-Finan-
am Main (Regional Court) of 12 July 2001, which was received           zierungs-AG (ÖSAG) on the following questions:
at the Court Registry on 22 October 2001, for a preliminary
ruling in the case of IMS Health GmbH & Co. OHG v NDC
Health GmbH & Co on the following questions:                           Question 1
                                                                       Is an alternative tender that consists in proposing an asphalt
1.   Is Article 82 EC to be interpreted as meaning that there is       surface instead of overlaying the carriageway with concrete as
     abusive conduct by an undertaking with a dominant                 specified in the tender document a ‘variant’ within the meaning
     position on the market where it refuses to grant a licence        of the first paragraph of Article 19 of Directive 93/37/EEC (1)?
     agreement for the use of a data bank protected by
     copyright to an undertaking which seeks access to the
     same geographical and actual market if the participants           Question 2
     on the other side of the market, that is to say potential
     clients, reject any product which does not make use of
     the data bank protected by copyright because their set-up         Can a criterion established in national legislation to determine
     relies on products manufactured on the basis of that data         the admissibility of the acceptance of a ‘variant’ within the
     bank?                                                             meaning of the first paragraph of Article 19 of Directive
                                                                       93/37/EEC, whereby ‘the performance of qualitatively equiva-
                                                                       lent work is ensured’ by the variant, properly be regarded as a
2.   Is the extent to which an undertaking with a dominant             ‘minimum specification’ required and stated by the contracting
     position on the market has involved persons from the              authority in accordance with the first and second paragraphs
     other side of the market in the development of the data           of Article 19 of Directive 93/37/EEC, if the tender document
     bank protected by copyright relevant to the question of           refers only to the national provision and does not specify the
     abusive conduct by that undertaking?                              comparative parameters to be used to assess ‘equivalence’?