the Court of Appeal ruling for the facts of this case. On appeal the Court held that (1) it was not clear whe" />

Cases

O2 Holdings Ltd & Anor v Hutchison 3G UK Ltd (ECJ)

Facts

Please see the Court of Appeal ruling for the facts of this case.

On appeal the Court held that (1) it was not clear whether Art 5(1) covered situations where the registered mark was used purely descriptively and in such a way that the essential function of the trade mark to indicate origin was not jeopardised; and (2) 3G would have had a defence if it complied with Art 3a of the CAD, but it was not clear whether it had done so or not, as it was not clear whether use of a mark had to be "indispensable" to comply with Art 3a, or, if it did, whether it was permissible to use a sign confusingly similar to the registered mark.

The Court of Appeal sought a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice on the issues raised.

Also