Extending Trade Mark Protection Under EU Law: External Transit, Preparatory Acts and Reproduction of Trade Marks in Reference Works

The paper discusses the phenomenon of the extension of trade mark protection in the current EU legislation, which goes beyond the situations of trade mark infringement classically condemned by trade mark law. It analyses the conditions of application and the legal nature of the prerogatives of the trade mark proprietors concerning the external transit, preparatory acts and reproduction of trade marks in reference works. The article shows that the legislature uses different mechanisms in order to make trade mark law more efficient, taking into account the nature of the acts to be combatted, in view of the rules governing trade mark law. It indeed appears that only the prerogatives related to external transit are situated within the exclusive trade mark right and, as a consequence, those acts are covered by the concept of infringement, whereas the rights granted to trade mark proprietors with respect to preparatory acts and the reproduction of trade marks in reference works constitute special prerogatives that are not within the scope of the trade mark right.