Brussels, 22/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - The EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is not legally bound by judgements returned by national trademark courts of the EU, although they must take these into account, the Court of Justice of the EU confirmed in a verdict returned on Thursday 21 July.
The EUIPO, which replaced OHIM in March (EUROPE 11512), has sole competence to authorise or reject the registration of an EU mark, whereas the national trademark courts of the EU are used to bring counterfeiting cases. This difference in competences means that EUIPO cannot be legally bound by the judgements of these courts, as the procedures of the two systems do not serve the same aim, the Court found.
However, EUIPO must take account of any impact that a judgement returned by any such national court may have on the outcome of proceedings brought before it. If it fails to do so, as in the present case (C-226/15), its decision may be overturned by the General Court of the EU. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)