Luxembourg, 30/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - The EU's Court of First Instance issued a number of judgements last week (in addition to the one concerning the Bayer case, which EUROPE reported on in the 28 October bulletin, page 12), concerning the following cases:
Community Concepts. The fourth chamber, presided over by Virpi Tiili, rejected an appeal made by the German firm about the European Trademark Office's decision not to grant the Community mark to the term "Investorworld", which was said to lack any distinctive character. The Court says the term does give the impression that the services are intended for investors. But adding "world" does not provide further characteristics likely to make the sign helpful in making a distinction between the services of the applicant and those of other companies.
Harbinger Corporation. The same chamber rejected an appeal by the Atlanta-based firm, which made an unsuccessful bid for the Community mark to be granted for "Trustedlink". It explained that the term had no distinguishing feature, as it comprises two words, one of which is generic and merely designates a key technical feature of e-commerce, whilst the other indicates its desired quality;
Ripa di Meana. The fourth chamber cancelled the European Parliament decision rejecting the request by the former MEP (and erstwhile Commissioner) to be able to join a provisional retirement scheme introduced by the Parliament
Asia Motor Finance. The fifth chamber, presided over by Rafael García-Valdecasas, rejected the appeal by a company going into liquidation, Asia Motor, which claimed it was the victim of what it regards as an unlawful agreement between five French importers of Japanese cars and the Commission has refused to investigate this matter.
EUROPE will be considering some of these judgements in more detail later on, in the light of their importance and implications.