Skip to content

GlobalLawDBby GenieAI

Laws Search Sanctions Map Data Developers

Search the text of the law

Log in Get an API key

Laws Search Sanctions Map Data Developers

Log in Get an API key

The Global Law Database. Free to read, built for people and AI agents.

Explore

All laws
Search the text
Sanctions
Map of connections
Compare UK and EU

Developers

AI agents (MCP)
REST API
Bulk data
API keys

Coverage

United Kingdom
European Union
United States
Canada
Australia
France
Germany
Netherlands
Spain
Austria
Norway
Finland
Switzerland
Ireland

GlobalLawDB is made by GenieAI, London. It is not legal advice: check the official text before relying on it. Text comes from official publishers under their licences, listed on the Data page.

ThemeMatch my systemLightDark

European Union
Class International BV v Colgate-Palmolive Company and Others (C-405/03)
Judgment
The questions referred for a prelimina…
Whether the trade mark proprietor may…
The Court's answer
43

Class International BV v Colgate-Palmolive Company and Others (C-405/03)

Judgment of 18 Oct 2005law://eu/cjeu/2003/c-405-03/para_43@2026-11-10

43Release for free circulation, a requirement for putting goods on the market in the Community, is therefore only one of the options open to the trader who brings goods into the Community customs territory.

Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.

Key facts

Court: Court of Justice · Grand Chamber
Case: C-405/03 · ECLI:EU:C:2005:616
Decided: 18 Oct 2005
Procedure: Preliminary reference · referred by the Gerechtshof te 's-Gravenhage (Netherlands)
Applicant: Class International BV
Defendants: Colgate-Palmolive Company; Unilever NV; SmithKline Beecham pic; Beecham Group pic
Rapporteur: C. Gulmann
Advocate General: F.G. Jacobs
Bench: 13 judges
V. Skouris, P. Jann, C.W.A. Timmermans, A. Rosas, J. Malenovský, C. Gulmann, R. Schintgen, N. Colneric, S. von Bahr, J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, A. Borg Barthet, M. Ilešič, J. Klučka
Language: Dutch
Official: CURIA · EUR-Lex 62003CJ0405

Topics

Approximation of laws Trade marks

History · 1 version

18 Oct 2005Reading

Connections

Interprets 2: First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks; Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark
Cited by 10: Boehringer Ingelheim KG and Others v Swingward Ltd and Dowelhurst Ltd (C-348/04); Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha Ltd and Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe BV v Duma Forklifts NV and G.S. International BVBA (C-129/17); H. Gautzsch Großhandel GmbH & Co. KG v Münchener Boulevard Möbel Joseph Duna GmbH (C-479/12)2 provisions; TOP Logistics BV and Van Caem International BV v Bacardi Co. Ltd and Bacardi International Ltd - Bacardi & Company Ltd and Bacardi International Ltd v TOP Logistics BV and Van Caem International BV (C-379/14)2 provisions; Tradeinn Retail Services S.L. v PH (C-76/24); A v B (C-772/18)2 provisions; Oberbank AG and Others v Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband eV (C-217/13, C-218/13)2 provisions; Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV v Lucheng Meijing Industrial Company Ltd and Others and Nokia Corporation v Her Majesty’s Commissioners of Revenue and Customs (C-446/09, C-495/09)2 provisions; Montex Holdings Ltd v Diesel SpA (C-281/05)2 provisions; Levi Strauss & Co. v Casucci SpA (C-145/05)2 provisions
Cites 5: Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (consolidated 2016)2 provisions; Zino Davidoff SA v A & G Imports Ltd and Levi Strauss & Co. and Others v Tesco Stores Ltd and Others (C-414/99, C-415/99, C-416/99); First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks; Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark; Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code