In its vote on 25th February, the Parliament adopted amendments 55 (Recital 22) and 56 (Article 10, paragraph 5) to the Trade Mark Directive and amendment 115 (Recital 18) and 116 (Article 1, point 12) to the Community Trade Mark Regulation.The amended text of Article 9(5) of the Regulation, as passed, says that without prejudice to WTO rules the owner of a European trade mark “shall also be entitled to prevent all third parties from bringing goods, in the context of commercial activity, into the customs territory of the Union without being released for free circulation there, where such goods, including packaging, come from third countries and bear without authorisation a trade mark which is identical to the European trade mark registered in respect of such goods, or which cannot be distinguished in its essential aspects from that trade mark”.
Recital 18 states that this should be without prejudice to “the smooth transit of generic medicines” in compliance with the Doha Declaration.
There is equivalent language in the amended Directive regarding national trade marks.
MARQUES reaction
MARQUES has always continued to favour the proposals as originally drafted by the European Commission. But ahead of the vote, it communicated to MEPs and political groups sitting in Parliament its support for Gallo and Rapkay's joint amendments, viewing them as the best compromise.
After the vote, MARQUES and 15 other IP and business organisations representing thousands of companies across all industries welcomed the European Parliament vote. A joint press release saluted the political courage of Gallo and Rapkay who sponsored the transit provisions.
The press release said: “The new provisions adopted today will allow customs to stop trademark counterfeit goods even if destined to a country outside the EU and will not affect the trade of legitimate goods under the EU’s WTO international obligations. Likewise, these provisions ensure that genuine generic medicines will reach their final destination.”
The Parliament approved the CTMR reforms as a whole by 551 votes to 83 with 17 abstentions, and the TMD reforms by 566 votes to 89, with 18 abstentions.
The texts will now be discussed by the EU Council, in which all member states are represented.
Both the JURI amendments and the Gallo-Rapkay amendments are available on the MARQUES EU Trademark Reform Task Force page. You can read the full text and a summary of the legislation on the Parliament’s website.
MARQUES will continue to monitor and report on further developments with the legislation.
Photograph of MEPs during February 2014 plenary session © European Union 2014 - EP
Issue 038
As part of the wider review of the EU trade mark legislation, the European Parliament has voted in favour of the amendments jointly tabled by MEPs Marielle Gallo and Bernhard Rapkay on provisions regarding counterfeit goods in transit.
The latest MARQUES Coexistence Agreement Workshop was hosted by law firm MeyerLustenbergerLachenal in Zurich on 5th February.
The judgment of the CJEU in Martin Blomqvist v Rolex (Case C-98/13 February 2014) is a stunning victory for brand owners – in more than one sense, as Ian Lowe explains.
OHIM has provided further updates on the difficulties that users have experienced with its new website since the report in last month’s issue of HouseMARQUES.
Update your calendar with all the MARQUES events planned for the coming year.
Posts on the Lush v Amazon case, the representation of a yellow curved line and the Gautzsch design case were among those featured on the MARQUES blogs this month.
