16. Trade Marks and the Free Movement Aspects of EU Law

Abstract

This chapter examines the interaction between trade mark law and the principles of free movement of goods in the EU. It discusses the concepts of essential function and specific subject matter which the CJEU uses to distinguish between what amounts to pro-competitive use of the trade mark, which the Treaty encourages, and anti-competitive abuse of the trade mark rights, which the Treaty prohibits. The essential function looks at this from a theoretical perspective, whilst the specific subject matter translates this in more practical guidelines. The chapter then turns cases and heated debates arising from parallel importation, which essentially focus on the relabelling and repackaging of parallel-traded goods.