Request for a preliminary ruling from the Monomeles Protodikeio Athinon (Greece) lodged on 10 October 2013 – Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha v Maria Patmanidi SA
(Case C-535/13)
Language of the case: Greek
Referring court
Monomeles Protodikeio Athinon
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Defendant: Maria Patmanidi SA
Question referred
What is the scope of the provisions of Article 7 of Directive 89/104/ΕEC 1 (now Article 7 of Directive 2008/95/ΕC) 2 and of Article 13 of Regulation (ΕC) 40/94/ΕC 3 (now Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009) 4 in relation to the right of a trade mark proprietor to prohibit parallel imports into the EU and the EEA of its products which were first supplied or put on the market in a country outside the EU and the EEA, especially in the case of products with a large profit margin and price squeezing, as evidenced by large fluctuations in pricing policy, and/or where parallel imports may result in considerable reductions in prices to end consumers, for their benefit and the benefit of competition, as in the case of all types of spare parts for motor vehicles, in light of the effect, in isolation or combination, of: (a) the provisions of Articles 101and 102 TFEU; (b) the provisions of Articles I, XI.1, ΙΙΙ.4 and XX(d) and GATT 1994 law in general; and (c) Articles I and [Χ]XIV GΑΤΤ 1994, especially as they extend the scope of the provisions of Article 7(1) of Directive 2008/95/ΕC and of Article 13(1) of Regulation (ΕC) No 207/2009 to products put on the market in contracting parties of the GΑΤΤ 1994 and reciprocity issues arise between them?
____________1 First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (OJ 1988 L 40. p. 1).
2 Directive 2008/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (OJ 2008 L 28, p. 18).
3 Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark (OJ 1994 L 11, p. 1).
4 Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 of 26 February 2009 on the Community trade mark (OJ 2009 L 78, p. 1).