Chapter 10. Community trade mark courts and Community design courts
| Author | Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market |
| Profession | European Commission |
| Pages | 159-172 |
Page 159
Pursuant to Article 91 CTMR, the Member States shall designate Community trade mark courts of first and second instance that have the competences attributed to them under the CTMR. Pursuant to Article 101 (3) CTMR, a further action or appeal may be brought to a court of third instance if and to the extent that the relevant national law allows such action or appeal against decisions of its courts which are designated as CTM courts of second instance.
The Community trade mark courts are specialised national courts, entrusted with Community-wide jurisdiction on Community trade marks. The aim is to have, for each Member State, a number of such courts as limited as possible.
Pursuant to Article 92 CTMR, the CTM courts have exclusive jurisdiction for: actions for infringement of CTMs, actions for threatened infringement and declaration of non-infringement, if national law provides for such kind of actions, actions for claim of reasonable compensation for the use of a published CTM application (Article 9 (3) CTMR), counterclaims for revocation or declaration of invalidity of a CTM.
Pursuant to Article 91 (2) CTMR, each Member State had to notify to the European Commission before 15 March 1997 a list of the Community trade mark courts together with their names and their territorial jurisdiction. Likewise, any changes to that list have to be notified to the European Commission. As long as a Member State has not notified the list to the European Commission, the competence as referred to in Article 92 CTMR lies with the national courts which are competent, ratione loci and ratione materiae, in the case of proceedings concerning a national mark registered in that Member State, that is, as if the CTM were a national mark registered in that State (Article 91 (5) CTMR).
Any list and any amendment thereof notified by a Member State must be published by the European Commission in the Official Journal of the European Communities (Article 91 (4) CTMR). The Office will republish such notifications in its Official Journal. However, the effect that the courts notified by the Member State become competent instead of the courts normally competent for national trade marks is not dependent on this publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
The following table lists the Community trade mark courts as notified up to now by the Member States. Where applicable, the reference to the publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities or the Official Journal of the Office is given as well. The table, moreover, lists the Community trade mark courts which have merely been designated by the Member States in their national law without having been notified yet to the Commission.
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| Austria | CTM court of first instance: - Handelsgericht Wien CTM court of second instance: - Oberlandesgericht Wien Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission § 69d (1), AT- TML | OJ OHIM 4/2000, p. 472 |
| Belgium | CTM court of first instance: - Tribunal de Commerce de Bruxelles / Rechtbank van Koophandel te Brussel CTM court of second instance: - Cour d'appel de Bruxelles / Hof van Beroep te Brussel Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Article 602 (1) of the Belgian Judicial Code and Article 5 of its Annex | OJ OHIM 9/1999, p. 1141 |
| Cyprus | ||
| Czech Republic | CTM court of first instance: - Mestský soud v Praze CTM court of second instance: - Vrchní soud v Praze Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Article 55, CZ-TML | |
| Denmark | CTM court of first instance: - Sø- og Handelsretten, Copenhagen CTM court of second instance: - Højesteret, Copenhagen Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission § 43a, DK-TML | OJ OHIM 9/1999, p. 1141 |
| Estonia | CTM court of first instance: - Harju Maakohus CTM court of second instance: - Tallinna Ringkonnakohus Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Article 715 of the Estonian Trade Marks Act |
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| Finland | CTM court of first instance: - Helsingin Käräjäoikeus CTM court of second instance: - Helsingin Hovioikeus Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission § 42, 3rd sentence, § 49, FI-TML | |
| France | CTM court of first instance: - Tribunal de grande instance de Paris CTM court of second instance: - Cour d'appel de Paris Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Article 1, FR-DECREE No 2002-216 | |
| Germany | CTM court of first instance: - The following District Courts (Landgerichte) * Landgericht Mannheim * Landgericht Stuttgart * Landgericht Nürnberg-Fürth * Landgericht München I * Landgericht Berlin * Landgericht Bremen * Landgericht Hamburg * Landgericht Frankfurt am Main * Landgericht Rostock * Landgericht Braunschweig * Landgericht Düsseldorf * Landgericht Koblenz * Landgericht Frankenthal (Pfalz) * Landgericht Saarbrücken * Landgericht Leipzig * Landgericht Magdeburg * Landgericht Kiel * Landgericht Erfurt CTM court of second instance: - Higher Provincial Court (Oberlandesgericht) which is locally competent for the respective district court, namely * Oberlandesgericht Karlsruhe * Oberlandesgericht Stuttgart * Oberlandesgericht Nürnberg * Oberlandesgericht München * Kammergericht Berlin * Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht Bremen * Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht Hamburg * Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt am Main | OJ OHIM 9/1999, p. 1141, OJ OHIM 12/2001, p. 2151 |
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| * Oberlandesgericht Rostock * Oberlandesgericht Braunschweig * Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf * Oberlandesgericht Koblenz * Pfälzisches Oberlandesgericht Zweibrücken * Saarländisches Oberlandesgericht Saarbrücken * Oberlandesgericht Dresden * Oberlandesgericht Naumburg * Schleswig-Holsteinisches Oberlandesgericht * Thüringer Oberlandesgericht Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission § 125 e DE-TML | ||
| Greece | CTM court of first instance: * Tribunal de première instance d'Athènes * Tribunal de première instance de Thessaloniki CTM court of second instance: * Cour d'appel d'Athènes * Cour d'appel de Thessaloniki Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Law No 2943/2001, Chapter III, Art. 6-11 | |
| Hungary | CD court of first instance: - Fovárosi Biróság CD court of second instance: - Fovárosi Itélotábla Article 76/H HU-TML | |
| Ireland | CTM court of first instance: - the High Court CTM court of second instance: - the Supreme Court Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Article 7, IE-S.I. No. 229 | |
| Italy | CTM court of first instance: * Tribunale di Bari * Tribunale di Bologna * Tribunale di Catania * Tribunale di Firenze * Tribunale di Genova * Tribunale di Milano * Tribunale di Napoli |
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| * Tribunale di Palermo * Tribunale di Roma * Tribunale di Torino * Tribunale di Trieste * Tribunale di Venezia CTM court of second instance: * Corte d'appello di Bari * Corte d'appello di Bologna * Corte d'appello di Catania * Corte d'appello di Firenze * Corte d'appello di Genova * Corte d'appello di Milano * Corte d'appello di Napoli * Corte d'appello di Palermo * Corte d'appello di Roma * Corte d'appello di Torino * Corte d'appello di Trieste * Corte d'appello di Venezia Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Article 1 D Igs. 27/06/2003, n.168 | ||
| Latvia | ||
| Lithuania | CTM court of first instance: - Vilniaus apygardos teismas CTM court of second instance: - Apeliacinis Teismas Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Article 49, part (2) 6, LT-TML Article 301 part 3, Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania | |
| Luxembourg | CTM court of first instance: - Tribunal d'Arrondissement de Luxembourg CTM court of second instance: - Cour Supérieure de Justice Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission | |
| Malta | CTM court of first instance: - First Hall of the Civil Court CTM court of second instance: - The Court of Appeal Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Article 9, L.N. 233 of 2003 |
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| Netherlands | CTM court of first instance: - Arrondissementsrechtbank te 's - Gravenhage CTM court of second instance: - Gerechtshof te 's - Gravenhage Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission | OJ OHIM 9/1999, p. 1141 |
| Poland | CT court of first instance: - Sad Okregowy w Warszawie - Sad Wspólnotowych Znaków Towarowych i Wzorów Przemyslowych CTM court of second instance: - Sad Apelacyjny w Warszawie Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Law of 16 April 2004 amending the law on the statute of the common courts | |
| Portugal | CTM court of first instance: * Tribunal do Comércio de Lisboa CTM court of second instance: * Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Article 40, PT- IP Code | |
| Slovakia | CTM court of first instance: * Okresný súd v Bratislave I * Okresný súd v Banskej Bystrici * Okresný súd v Koziciach I CTM court of second instance: * Krajský súd v Bratislave * Krajský súd v Banskej Bystrici * Krajský súd v Koziciach Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Article 11 of the Act No 371/2004 Coll. on Seats and Circuits of the Courts in the Slovak Republic | |
| Slovenia | CTM court of first instance: - Okrozno sodizce v Ljubljani CTM court of second instance: - Vizje sodizce v Ljubljani Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Articles 101 (1) (II) (4) and 104 (1) of the Act on Courts (Official Gazette No 100/2005) |
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| Spain | CTM court of first instance: - Juzgados de lo Mercantil de Alicante CTM court of second instance: - Audiencia Provincial de Alicante Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission Article 2 (4) of the "Ley Orgánica 8/2003, de 9 de julio, para la Reforma Concursal, por la que se modifica la Ley Orgánica 6/1985, de 1 de julio, del Poder Judicial" | |
| Sweden | CTM court of first instance: - Stockholms tingsrätt CTM court of second instance: - Svea hovrätt, Stockholm Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission § 67, SE-TML | OJ OHIM 9/1999, p. 1141 |
| United Kingdom | CTM court of first instance: (a) in England and Wales * The High Court * The Patents County Court * Birmingham County Court * Bristol County Court * Cardiff County Court * Leeds County Court * Liverpool County Court * Manchester County Court * Newcastle upon Tyne County Court (b) in Scotland - The Court of Session (c) in Northern Ireland - The High Court CTM court of second instance: - The Court of Appeal Notification in accordance with Article 91 (2) CTMR, addressed to the European Commission The Community Trade Mark Regulations 2006 |
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Pursuant to Article 80 CDR, the Member States shall designate Community design courts of first and second instance that have the competences attributed to them under the CDR. Pursuant to Article 92 (3) CDR, a further action or appeal may be brought to a court of third instance if and to the extent that the relevant national law allows such action or appeal against decisions of its courts which are designated as CD courts of second instance.
The Community design courts are like the Community trade mark courts specialised national courts, entrusted with Community-wide jurisdiction on Community IP Law. The aim is to have, for each Member State, a number of such courts as limited as possible.
Pursuant to Article 81 CDR, the CD courts have exclusive jurisdiction for:
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actions for infringement of CDs,
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actions for threatened infringement and declaration of non-infringement, if national law provides for such kind of actions,
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actions for declaration of invalidity of an unregistered CD,
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counterclaims for declaration of invalidity of a CD raised in connection with actions under (a).
Pursuant to Article 80 (2) CDR, each Member State had to notify to the European Commission before 6 March 2005 a list of the Community trade mark courts together with their names and their territorial jurisdiction. Likewise, any changes to that list have to be notified to the European Commission. As long as a Member State has not notified the list to the European Commission, the competence as referred to in Article 80 CDR lies with the national courts which are competent, ratione loci and ratione materiae, in the case of proceedings concerning a national design registered in that Member State, that is, as if the CD were a national design registered in that State (Article 80 (5) CDR).
Any list and any amendment thereof notified by a Member State must be published by the European Commission in the Official Journal of the European Communities (Article 80 (4) CDR). The Office will republish such notifications in its Official Journal. However, the effect that the courts notified by the Member State become competent instead of the courts normally competent for national trade marks is not dependent on this publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
The following table lists the Community design courts as notified up to now by the Member States. Where applicable, the reference to the publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities or the Official Journal of the Office is given as well. The table, moreover, lists the Community design courts which have merely been designated by the Member States in their national law without having been notified yet to the Commission.
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| Austria | CD court of first instance: - Handelsgericht Wien CD court of second instance: - Oberlandesgericht Wien Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Section 4b (2) of the Protection of Designs Act Section 4 of the Civil Jurisdiction Act | |
| Belgium | CD court of first instance: - Tribunal de Commerce de Bruxelles / Rechtbank van Koophandel te Brussel CD court of second instance: - Cour d'appel de Bruxelles / Hof van Beroep te Brussel Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission | |
| Cyprus | ||
| Czech Republic | CD court of first instance: - Mestský soud v Praze CD court of second instance: - Vrchní soud v Praze Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Article 47 of the Designs Act Administrative Procedure Code | |
| Denmark | CD court of first instance: - Sø- og Handelsretten, Copenhagen CD court of second instance: - Højesteret, Copenhagen Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Article 42, Section 2 and Article 43 of the Danish Designs Act | |
| Estonia | CD court of first instance: - Harju Maakohus CD court of second instance: - Tallinna Ringkonnakohus Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Article 877 of the Estonian Industrial Design Protection Act |
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| Finland | CD court of first instance: - Helsingin Käräjäoikeus CD court of second instance: - Helsingin Hovioikeus Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Article 43 (2) of the Finnish Design Act | |
| France | ||
| Germany | CD court of first instance: * Landgericht München I * Landgericht Nürnberg-Fürth * Landgericht Mannheim * Landgericht Stuttgart * Landgericht Berlin * Landgericht Bremen * Landgericht Hamburg * Landgericht Frankfurt am Main * Landgericht Neubrandenburg * Landgericht Rostock * Landgericht Schwerin * Landgericht Stralsund * Landgericht Braunschweig * Landgericht Düsseldorf * Landgericht Bad Kreuznach * Landgericht Frankenthal (Pfalz) * Landgericht Kaiserslautern * Landgericht Koblenz * Landgericht Landau in der Pfalz * Landgericht Mainz * Landgericht Trier * Landgericht Zweibrücken * Landgericht Saarbrücken * Landgericht Bautzen * Landgericht Chemnitz * Landgericht Dresden * Landgericht Görlitz * Landgericht Leipzig * Landgericht Zwickau * Landgericht Magdeburg * Landgericht Flensburg * Landgericht Itzehoe * Landgericht Kiel * Landgericht Lübeck * Landgericht Erfurt |
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| CD court of second instance: * Oberlandesgericht München * Oberlandesgericht Nürnberg * Oberlandesgericht Karlsruhe * Oberlandesgericht Stuttgart * Kammergericht Berlin * Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht Bremen * Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht Hamburg * Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt am Main * Oberlandesgericht Rostock * Oberlandesgericht Braunschweig * Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf * Pfälzisches Oberlandesgericht Zweibrücken * Oberlandesgericht Koblenz * Saarländisches Oberlandesgericht Saarbrücken * Oberlandesgericht Dresden * Oberlandesgericht Naumburg * Schleswig-Holsteinisches Oberlandesgericht * Thüringer Oberlandesgericht Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission | ||
| Greece | CD court of first instance: * Thessaloniki City Court * Athens City Court CD court of second instance: * Thessaloniki Court of Appeal * Athens Court of Appeal Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Article 9 of Law 2934/2001 | |
| Hungary | CD court of first instance: - Fovárosi Biróság CD court of second instance: - Fovárosi Itélotábla Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Section 60 E of the 2001 Protection of Designs Act (XL VIII) | |
| Ireland | CD court of first instance: - the High Court CD court of second instance: - the Supreme Court Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission I E-S.I. No. 27 of 2003 |
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| Italy | CD court of first instance: * Tribunale di Bari * Tribunale di Bologna * Tribunale di Catania * Tribunale di Firenze * Tribunale di Genova * Tribunale di Milano * Tribunale di Napoli * Tribunale di Palermo * Tribunale di Roma * Tribunale di Torino * Tribunale di Trieste * Tribunale di Venezia CD court of second instance: * Corte d'appello di Bari * Corte d'appello di Bologna * Corte d'appello di Catania * Corte d'appello di Firenze * Corte d'appello di Genova * Corte d'appello di Milano * Corte d'appello di Napoli * Corte d'appello di Palermo * Corte d'appello di Roma * Corte d'appello di Torino * Corte d'appello di Trieste * Corte d'appello di Venezia Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Article 15 No 273, Codice del diritto della proprietá industriale | |
| Latvia | CD court of first instance: - Rigas Apgabaltiesa CD court of second instance: - Augstakas tiesas Civillietu tiesu palata. Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission | |
| Lithuania | CD court of first instance: - Vilniaus apygardos teismas CD court of second instance: - Apeliacinis Teismas Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Article 46, part (2) 4, Law No IX-1181 Article 301 part 3, Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania |
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| Luxembourg | ||
| Malta | ||
| Netherlands | CD court of first instance: - Arrondissementsrechtbank te 's - Gravenhage CD court of second instance: - Gerechtshof te 's - Gravenhage Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Uitvoeringswet EG-verordening betreffende Gemeenschapsmodellen | |
| Poland | CD court of first instance: - Sad Okregowy w Warszawie - Sad Wspólnotowych Znaków Towarowych i Wzorów Przemyslowych CD court of second instance: - Sad Apelacyjny w Warszawie Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Law of 16 April 2004 amending the law on the statute of the common courts | |
| Portugal | CD court of first instance: - Tribunal do Comércio de Lisboa CD court of second instance: - Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Article 40, PT-IP Code | |
| Slovakia | CD court of first instance: * Okresný súd v Bratislave I * Okresný súd v Banskej Bystrici * Okresný súd v Koziciach I CD court of second instance: * Krajský súd v Bratislave * Krajský súd v Banskej Bystrici * Krajský súd v Koziciach Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Article 11 of the Act No 371/2004 Coll. on Seats and Circuits of the Courts in the Slovak Republic |
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| Slovenia | CD court of first instance: - Okrozno sodizee v Ljubljani CD court of second instance: - Vizje sodizee v Ljubljani Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Articles 101 (1) (II) (4) and 104 (1) of the Act on Courts (Official Gazette No 100/2005) | |
| Spain | CD court of first instance: - Juzgados de lo Mercantil de Alicante CD court of second instance: - Audiencia Provincial de Alicante Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Article 2 (4) of the "Ley Orgánica 8/2003, de 9 de julio, para la Reforma Concursal, por la que se modifica la Ley Orgánica 6/1985, de 1 de julio, del Poder Judicial" | |
| Sweden | CD court of first instance: - Stockholms tingsrätt CD court of second instance: - Svea hovrätt, Stockholm Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission Article 52 of the Swedish Act on Design Protection General Swedish Rules on Jurisdiction | |
| United Kingdom | CD court of first instance: * The High Court * The Patents County Court * The Court of Session CD court of second instance: - The Court of Appeal Notification in accordance with Article 80 (1) CDR, addressed to the European Commission The Community Designs Regulations 2005 | |
| State | Community trade mark and design courts | Reference of Publication |
| Bulgaria | ||
| Romania |
