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Publishers Abstract:
On Nov 30, 2004, the European Court of Justice gave a potentially far-reaching preliminary ruling on the interpretation of Article 7(1) of First Council Derivative 89/104/EEC of Dec 21, 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks. Article 7(1) of the Directive provides that a trade mark shall not entitle the proprietor to prohibit its use in relation to goods which have been put on the market in the Community under that trade mark by the proprietor or with his consent. This ruling could have a significant effect on trade mark holders who wish to market their products outside the European Economic Area (EEA) while using their trade mark rights to prevent third parties from reselling in the EEA. The aim of penetrating specific geographical markets should not of itself mean that re-importation bans are not anticompetitive. The effect or likely effect on competition in the common market of an agreement not pursuing an anti-competitive aim also needs to be examined.
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