Judgment_paragraph 35 · Viking Gas A/S v Kosan Gas A/S (C-46/10)

35It follows from the foregoing that the sale of the composite bottle exhausts the rights that the licensee of the right to the trade mark constituted by the shape of the composite bottle and proprietor of the marks affixed to that bottle derives from those marks and transfers to the purchaser the right to use that bottle freely, including the right to exchange it or have it refilled, once the original gas has been consumed, by an undertaking of his choice, that is to say, not only by that licensee and proprietor, but also by one of its competitors. The corollary of that right on the part of the purchaser is the right of those competitors, within the limits set out in Article 7(2) of Directive 89/104, to refill and exchange the empty bottles.