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)

Issue

Whether where a trader, in an advertisement for his own goods or services, uses a registered trade mark owned by a competitor for the purpose of comparing the characteristics (and in particular the price) of goods or services marketed by him with the characteristics (and in particular the price) of the goods or services marketed by the competitor under that mark in such a way that it does not cause confusion or otherwise jeopardise the essential function of the trade mark as an indication of origin, this use falls within Article 5(1) of Directive 89/104.

Where a trader uses, in a comparative advertisement, the registered trade mark of a competitor, in order to comply with Article 3a[(1)] of Directive 84/450 … whether that use must be “indispensable” and if so what are the criteria by which indispensability is to be judged.

Also