Request for a preliminary ruling from the Svea hovrätt, Patent- och marknadsöverdomstolen (Sweden) lodged on 20 May 2024 – Purefun Group AB v Doggy AB

(Case C-365/24, Purefun Group)

Language of the case: Swedish

Referring court

Svea hovrätt, Patent- och marknadsöverdomstolen

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Purefun Group AB

Defendant: Doggy AB

Questions referred

In the light of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the fundamental principle of the free movement of goods and services under EU law, is it compatible with the provisions of the Trade Marks Directive, ¹ in particular Articles 1 and 5(4), to have a system under national law whereby an earlier right in a company name may constitute a basis for prohibiting the use of a subsequent trade sign in the entire field of activity in respect of which the company name is registered and without any requirement that the company name must have been used to distinguish goods or services?

If the answer to Question 1 is in the negative, is it compatible with the Trade Marks Directive and EU law in general for a company name, which is used per se as a sign to distinguish certain kinds of goods or services in the field of activity in respect of which the company name is registered, to constitute grounds for prohibiting the use of a subsequent trade sign in connection with kinds of goods or services other than those in respect of which the company name is used as a sign?

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¹ Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2015 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (OJ 2015 L 336, p. 1).