Trade mark exhaustion and global brands: the Schweppes judgment

Abstract

Court of Justice of the European Union, Schweppes SA v Red Paralela SL et al, C-291/16, EU: C: 2017: 990, 20 December 2017

A trade mark proprietor, who has assigned to a third party some of the trade marks in their IP portfolio, cannot rely on their exclusivity rights to block the import of products bearing the marks transferred to the assignee if they pursue with the former a unitary commercial strategy aimed at promoting a global image of the marks, or if the above entities are connected by economic links giving them a joint control over the use of the marks.