On August 1, 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) published a final series of judgments rendered in its current term, including two significant preliminary rulings in trademark cases referred to the CJEU by a Finnish and a German court.
Read our special IP Report to learn more about the two judgments, accompanied by our expert commentary.
Court of Justice of the European Union: Limitation of trademark rights only to the extent provided for in the Trademarks Directive – Extraterritorial application of national trademark rights: Possession abroad
Two judgments of the CJEU rendered on August 1, 2025, dealt with significant trademark issues of practical importance. The first case,Lunapark/DRACULA, presented the question whether national law principles of acquiescence are applicable beyond what is provided for in the Trademarks Directive. In the second case,Tradeinn/ED, the question was whether possession of infringing goods in a foreign country amounts to trademark infringement.
1. The Lunapark/DRACULA case – Laches and acquiescence in trademark law – is there room for national rules?
On August 1, 2025, the CJEU rendered its judgment in Case C-452/24, Lunapark Scandinavia Oy Ltd v. Hardeco Finland Oy. The Supreme Court of Finland had referred a question concerning Article 10 of Directive 2015/2436, which provides for exclusive rights of the proprietor of a registered trademark.
2. The Tradeinn/ED Case – Possession and stocking of goods for marketing in another Member State
The questions referred in this case by the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) arose in an action brought by PH in a German court for infringement of figurative trademarks registered in Germany containing the letters ED. Tradeinn, established in Spain, advertised and sold identical goods under a mark identical to those marks via scubastore.com and amazon.de.
PH sought an injunction against use, sale, packaging, distribution, and promotion. The Court of Appeal (Nürnberg) extended the injunction to prohibit distributing or stocking the goods for that purpose, even though Tradeinn held the goods in Spain. Tradeinn appealed to the Bundesgerichtshof.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
