Regulated Industries and Non-Exhaustion of IP Rights in the Course of Parallel Trade: A Case Study on Plant Protection Products in the EU

摘要

In a recent case on parallel-imported agrochemical products, the District Court of The Hague ruled that non-compliance with the requirements laid down by the European Court of Justice (CJEU) for the parallel import of re-labelled products displaying the original right holder's trade mark constitutes a trade mark infringement, particularly if the right holder is not properly notified of the parallel import and is not offered a sample of the re-labelled product on request. This decision shows that these requirements for parallel import are applied strictly by the courts and have a broad scope (not only relating to pharmaceutical products), allowing the mark holder to exercise control over the resale, re-labelling and re-packaging of its original products within the EU.