Case T‑879/16
Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Ltd
v
European Union Intellectual Property Office
(EU trade mark — Revocation proceedings — EU figurative mark Vieta — Genuine use of the trade mark — Decision taken following the annulment by the General Court of an earlier decision — Article 65(6) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 72 (6) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) — Res judicata)
Summary — Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber), 8 February 2018
Judicial proceedings — Res judicata — Scope
Actions for annulment — Judgment annulling a measure — Effects — Obligation to implement — Scope — Both the operative part and the grounds of the judgment to be taken into account — Retroactive effect of annulment
(Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 65(6))
See the text of the decision.
(see paras 30, 31)
A judgment annulling a measure takes effect ex tunc and thus has the effect of retroactively eliminating the annulled measure from the legal system.
In order to comply with a judgment annulling a measure and to implement it fully, the institution responsible for adopting that measure is required to have regard not only to the operative part of the judgment but also to the grounds constituting its essential basis, in so far as they are necessary for the purposes of determining the exact meaning of what is stated in the operative part. It is those grounds which, on the one hand, identify the precise provision held to be illegal and, on the other, indicate the specific reasons which underlie the finding of illegality contained in the operative part and which the institution concerned must take into account when replacing the annulled measure.
(see paras 37, 38)