Adidas AG.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Celex Number: 61998CJ0223
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:1999:500
• Date: 14 October 1999
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling
• Docket Number: C-223/98

Avis juridique important

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61998J0223

Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 14 October 1999. - Adidas AG. - Reference for a preliminary ruling: Kammarrätten i Stockholm - Sweden. - Free movement of goods - Regulation (EC) No 3295/94 - Prohibition of release for free circulation, export, re-export or entry for a suspensive procedure of counterfeit and pirated goods - Provision of national law requiring the names of consignees of consignments detained by the customs authorities pursuant to the regulation to be kept confidential - Compatibility of the provision with Regulation (EC) No 3295/94. - Case C-223/98.

European Court reports 1999 Page I-07081

Summary
Parties
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part

Keywords

Common commercial policy - Measures to prevent the release for free circulation of counterfeit or pirated goods - National legislation precluding disclosure of the identity of the declarant or consignee of such goods - Not permissible

(Council Regulation No 3295/94, Art. 6(1))

Summary

$$On a proper construction, Regulation No 3295/94 laying down measures to prohibit the release for free circulation, export, re-export or entry for a suspensive procedure of counterfeit and pirated goods precludes a rule of national law under which the identity of declarants or consignees of imported goods which the trade-mark owner has found to be counterfeit may not be disclosed to him.

Effective application of the Regulation is directly dependent on the information supplied to the holder of the intellectual property right. Thus, if the identity of the declarant and/or consignee of the goods cannot be disclosed to him, it is in practice impossible for him to refer the case to the competent national authority so that, in a decision based on the merits, it can give final judgment against such practices. The reference in the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of the Regulation to national provisions on the protection of personal data, commercial and industrial secrecy and professional and administrative confidentiality cannot therefore be understood as precluding disclosure to the holder of the right of the information which he needs in order to safeguard his interests.

Parties

In Case C-223/98,

REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) by the Kammarrätten i Stockholm, Sweden, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings brought by

Adidas AG

on the interpretation of Council Regulation (EC) No 3295/94 of 22 December 1994 laying down measures to prohibit the release for free circulation, export, re-export or entry for a suspensive procedure of counterfeit and pirated goods (OJ 1994 L 341, p. 8),

THE COURT

(Fifth Chamber),

composed of: D.A.O. Edward, President of the Chamber, J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, C. Gulmann, J.-P. Puissochet and M. Wathelet (Rapporteur), Judges,

Advocate General: G. Cosmas,

Registrar: R. Grass,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

- the Belgian Government, by Jan Devadder, Director of Administration in the Legal Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Cooperation with Developing Countries, acting as Agent,

- the Italian Government, by Professor U. Leanza, Head of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent, assisted by O. Fiumara, Avvocato dello Stato,

- the Commission of the European Communities, by L. Ström, Legal Adviser, acting as Agent,

having regard to the report of the Judge-Rapporteur,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 10 June 1999,

gives the following

Judgment

Grounds

1 By decision of 16 June 1998, received at the Court of Justice on 18 June 1998, the Kammarrätten i Stockholm (Administrative Court of Appeal, Stockholm) referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling under Article 177 of the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) a question on the interpretation of Council Regulation (EC) No 3295/94 of 22 December 1994 laying down measures to prohibit the release for free circulation, export, re-export or entry for a suspensive procedure of counterfeit and pirated goods (OJ 1994 L 341, p. 8; hereinafter `the Regulation').

2 The question has been raised in proceedings brought by Adidas AG, the holder in Sweden of a trade mark for various sports articles, sports wear and leisure wear, against the refusal of the Arlanda customs office to disclose to it the identity of the consignee of goods suspected of being counterfeits of Adidas branded goods which it had intercepted.

The Regulation

3 According to the second recital in its preamble, the aim of the Regulation is to prevent, as far as possible...