Action brought on 23 March 2009 - Protege International v Commission

(Case T-119/09)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Protege International Ltd (London, United Kingdom) (represented by: D. Shefet, lawyer)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Form of order sought

annul the decision adopted by the Commission on 23 January relating to a proceeding under Article 82 of the EC Treaty (Case COMP/39.414 - Protégé International/Pernod Ricard).

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant seeks annulment of the Commission decision of 23 January 2009 whereby the Commission, in making a finding of no sufficient Community interest to continue with the investigation, rejected the complaint brought by the applicant against Pernod Ricard regarding alleged abuse of dominant position committed by the latter in the Irish whiskey market consisting, first, of legal proceedings filed by Pernod Ricard against the applicant with regard to the application for registration as trade marks of 'WILD GEESE', 'WILD GEESE RARE IRISH WHISKEY' and 'WILD GEESE IRISH SOLDIERS AND HEROS' by the applicant and, second, in a refusal to supply.

In support of its action, the applicant claims that

the legal proceedings initiated by Pernod Ricard had the aim, not of protecting Pernod Ricard's intellectual property rights in its trade mark 'WILD TURKEY', since no risk of confusion exists between the opposing marks, but that of eliminating the applicant as a competitor of Pernod Ricard in the Irish whiskey market;

there was an abuse of dominant position when Pernod Ricard refused to provide Irish whiskey to the applicant by reason of the latter's refusal to accept conditions restricting sale to markets approved by Pernod Ricard;

there is a Community interest, since the alleged abuses concern different Member States and the Community territory as a whole.

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