A natural person who has imported ball bearings weighing 710 kg in exchange for cognac and cigarettes, has used the trade mark affixed to the ball bearings in the course of trade
07-08-2020 Print this page
Trade mark law - A natural person who has imported - without the consent of the proprietor of the trade mark that is affixed to them - ball bearings weighing 710 kg on behalf of a third party and has retained and stored them, prior to their being uplifted for onward shipment to a non-Member State in exchange for a bottle of cognac and a carton of cigarettes, must be regarded as using that trade mark in the course of trade: since the goods - having regard to their nature and their volume - are manifestly not intended for private use, the relevant transactions must be considered to fall within the scope of a trading business, the fact that a person has imported and released for free circulation such goods justifies in itself a finding that that person has acted in the course of trade, the significance of the remuneration that the importer has received by way of consideration for his so acting is of no relevance.
