Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 29 January 2020 (request for a preliminary ruling from the High Court of Justice (Chancery Division) — United Kingdom) — Sky plc, Sky International AG, Sky UK Ltd v SkyKick UK Ltd, SkyKick Inc.
(Case C-371/18) 1
(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Approximation of laws — Community trade mark — Regulation (EC) No 40/94 — Articles 7 and 51 — First Directive 89/104/EEC — Articles 3 and 13 — Identification of the goods or services covered by the registration — Failure to comply with the requirements of clarity and precision — Bad faith of the applicant — No intention to use the trade mark for the goods or services covered by the registration — Total or partial invalidity of the trade mark — National legislation requiring the applicant to state that he or she intends to use the trade mark applied for)
Language of the case: English
Referring court
High Court of Justice (Chancery Division)
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicants: Sky plc, Sky International AG, Sky UK Ltd
Defendants: SkyKick UK Ltd, SkyKick Inc.
Operative part of the judgment
Articles 7 and 51 of Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1891/2006 of 18 December 2006, and Article 3 of First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks must be interpreted as meaning that a Community trade mark or a national trade mark cannot be declared wholly or partially invalid on the ground that terms used to designate the goods and services in respect of which that trade mark was registered lack clarity and precision.
Article 51(1)(b) of Regulation No 40/94, as amended by Regulation No 1891/2006, and Article 3(2)(d) of First Directive 89/104 must be interpreted as meaning that a trade mark application made without any intention to use the trade mark in relation to the goods and services covered by the registration constitutes bad faith, within the meaning of those provisions, if the applicant for registration of that mark had the intention either of undermining, in a manner inconsistent with honest practices, the interests of third parties, or of obtaining, without even targeting a specific third party, an exclusive right for purposes other than those falling within the functions of a trade mark. When the absence of the intention to use the trade mark in accordance with the essential functions of a trade mark concerns only certain goods or services referred to in the application for registration, that application constitutes bad faith only in so far as it relates to those goods or services.
First Directive 89/104 must be interpreted as not precluding a provision of national law under which an applicant for registration of a trade mark must state that the trade mark is being used in relation to the goods and services in relation to which it is sought to register the trade mark, or that he or she has a bona fide intention that it should be so used, in so far as the infringement of such an obligation does not constitute, in itself, a ground for invalidity of a trade mark already registered.
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1 OJ C 276, 6.8.2018.