Spare Parts and Repair Services

Spare Parts and Repair Services
Decisions of Courts in Europe
Leopold von Gerlach
Brussels, 29 January 2016
Decisions of the European Court of Justice
•
C - 238/87
VOLVO
•
C - 53/87
Maxicar / Renault
•
C - 63/97
BMW / Deenik
•
C - 206/01
Arsenal
•
C - 228/03
Gillette
•
C - 48/05
Adam Opel / Autec
•
C - 487/ 07
L‘Oreal / Bellure
Hogan Lovells
2
Vacuum cleaner bag – trade mark law
German Federal Court of Justice, 2005
• Compatible vacuum cleaner bags were advertised
"fitting with VORWERK KOBOLD 130"
• The use of the original brand name - necessary to
explain the compatibility - does not violate honest trade
practices – even if instances of confusion may occur
Hogan Lovells
3
Big inspection for everybody – trade mark law
German Federal Court of Justice, 2011
• Use of the "VW" emblem in advertisements for repair
services
• Device mark must not be used for third party advertising
- if use of word mark interfered less strongly with the
interest of trade mark owner
Hogan Lovells
4
BMW-Emblem – trade mark law
German Federal Court of Justice, 2015
• Use of BMW trade mark on badges to be sticked on other
spare parts
• The trademark is the sole feature of the badge; as such the
trade mark is not used "for" a spare part but is the spare part
itself. Such trade mark use does not benefit from the
privilege for replacement parts
Hogan Lovells
5
Repackaging of spare parts – trade mark law
Higher Regional Court Hamburg, 2001
• The importer of third party spare parts removed the
packaging bearing the original trademark and re-packed
the spare parts in neutral packaging.
• The repacking of the spare parts cannot reverse the
infringement that occured already at the time of import.
• The initial packaging was trademark infringing as it used
the trademark without additional words like "fitting with"
or "suitable for".
Hogan Lovells
6
Vacuum cleaner bag – comparative advertising
German Federal Court of Justice, 2015
• Vacuum cleaner bags were advertised with
reference to the well known trade mark: "similar to
SWIRL"
• No unfair exploitation of reputation by using a well
known trade mark for comparative advertising in an
offer for sale on the internet – even if this aimes at
raising attention to own products
Hogan Lovells
7
Tuning – comparative advertising
German Federal Court of Justice, 2015
• Motor vehicle tune-ups were advertised by referring also
to the car brand: "Porsche 911 with TECHART
adjustmetns"
• The reference to the car brand is permissible – as long
as it is clear that it only refers to the vehicle in its original
state
Hogan Lovells
8
Wheel rims – design law
District Court of Dusseldorf, 2013
• Distribution of wheel rims in Germany, manufactured by an
Italian company - alleged infringement of a national
registered design
• Repair clause under European design law (Art. 110 CDR) is
not applicable as defence against claims of infringement of a
German design right
Hogan Lovells
9
Wheel rims – design law
Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart, 2014
• Distribution of wheel rims in Germany, manufactured by
an Italian company - alleged infringement of a
community design
• Art. 101 CDR only applies in case of repair, which does
not include the delivery of a set of four wheel rims
• Wheel rims do not represent "designs which constitute a
component part of a complex product" and therefore do
not fall within the scope of Art. 101 CDR
Hogan Lovells
10
Nintendo remote control – design law
Higher Regional Court Dusseldorf, 2016
• Offer of Nintendo-compatible remote control and use of
Nintendo's design protected products on website – as
reference product for the remote control.
•
Questions referred to the European Court of Justice:
1. Is it permissible to display a design protected product
(game console) in order to advertise a compatible
accesoire product (remote control).
2. Wich law is applicable on offers that are targeted to all
European countries
Hogan Lovells
11
Windows – comparative advertisinht
Supreme Court of Austria, 2011
• Offer of windows as "suitable replacement for VELUX
windows"
• reference to the trade mark of the market-leader‘s brand
is unjustified, as a reference to windows of all kinds as
well as custom made windows would have been
sufficient
Hogan Lovells
12
Aluminium wheel rims – design and trade mark law
- Supreme Court of Denmark, 2015
• Use of aluminium wheel rims imitating the BMWdesign - and bearing the BMW trade mark.
• Aluminium wheel rims do not fall within the scope of
Art. 101 CDR as they are used to decorate and
upgrade the overall appearance.
• Wheel rims attached with the BMW trade mark
infringe BMW's trade mark rights
Hogan Lovells
13
Spare parts for vacuum cleaners – trade mark law
Supreme Court of Italy, 2014
• Use of device mark placed on spare parts for
vacuum cleaners.
• Device mark placed on the product is no indication
for the product's intended purpose but rather an
indication of its origin – and thus a trade mark
infringing use
Hogan Lovells
14
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