Notice for the OJ
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
(Fifth Chamber)
10 April 2003
in Case C-305/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt am Main): Christian Schulin v Saatgut-Treuhandverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH (1) (Plant varieties ( System of protection ( Article 14(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 and Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1768/95 ( Use by farmers of the product of the harvest ( Obligation to provide
information to the holder of the Community right)
(Language of the case: German)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published in the European Court Reports)
In Case C-305/00: Reference to the Court under Article 234 EC by the Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt am Main (Germany) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between Christian Schulin and Saatgut-Treuhandverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, on the interpretation of the sixth indent of Article 14(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 of 27 July 1994 on Community plant variety rights (OJ 1994 L 227, p. 1), and Article 8 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1768/95 of 24 July 1995 implementing rules on the agricultural exemption provided for in Article 14(3) of Regulation No 2100/94 (OJ 1995 L 173, p. 14), the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed of: M. Wathelet, President of the Chamber, C.W.A. Timmermans, D.A.O. Edward, S. von Bahr (Rapporteur) and A. Rosas, Judges; D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate General; H.A. Rühl, Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 10 April 2003, in which it has ruled:
The provisions of the sixth indent of Article 14(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94, of 27 July 1994, on Community plant variety rights in conjunction with Article 8 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1768/95 of 24 July 1995 implementing rules on the agricultural exemption provided for in Article 14(3) of Regulation No 2100/94 cannot be construed as meaning that the holder of a Community plant variety right can require a farmer to provide the information specified in those provisions where there is no indication that the farmer has used or will use, for propagating purposes in the field, on his own holding, the product of the harvest obtained by planting, on his own holding, propagating material of a variety other than a hybrid or synthetic variety which is covered by that right and belongs to one of the agricultural plant species listed in Article 14(2) of Regulation No 2100/94.
____________1 - OJ C 302 of 21.10.2000