Interflora Inc. and Interflora British Unit v Marks & Spencer plc and Flowers Direct Online Ltd (C-323/09)

Judgment of 22 Sept 2011

law://eu/cjeu/2009/c-323-09/para_38@2026-11-12

38That interpretation of Article 5(1)(a) of Directive 89/104 has been restated on many occasions and applied in relation to Article 9(1)(a) of Regulation No 40/94 (see, inter alia, as regards Directive 89/104, Case C-17/06 Céline [2007] ECR I-7041, paragraph 16, and Case C-533/06 O2 Holdings and O2 (UK) [2008] ECR I-4231, paragraph 57, and, as regards Regulation No 40/94, the order in Case C-62/08 UDV North America [2009] ECR I-1279, paragraph 42, and Google France and Google, paragraph 75). There has been further clarification of that interpretation to the effect that those provisions enable the proprietor of the trade mark to rely on its exclusive right where there is, or is liable to be, an adverse effect on one of the functions of the trade mark, irrespective of whether the function concerned is the essential function of indicating the origin of the product or service covered by the trade mark or one of the other functions of the mark, such as that of guaranteeing the quality of that product or service or that of communication, investment or advertising (L’Oréal and Others, paragraphs 63 and 65, and Google France and Google, paragraphs 77 and 79).

Interflora Inc. and Interflora British Unit v Marks & Spencer plc and Flowers Direct Online Ltd (C-323/09)

Key facts

History · 1 version

Connections