ECJ Ruling In IP Translator Case

On 19 June 2012, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("ECJ") handed down its judgment in the IP Translator case (Case C-307/10) concerning the use of the Nice Classification class headings in trade mark applications. With this preliminary ruling, the ECJ clarified to what extent the goods or services covered by a trade mark application need to be identified in order for that application to be in accordance with Directive 2008/95/EC of 22 October 2008 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (the "Trade Mark Directive").

The Nice Classification is a classification of goods and services for the registration of trade marks which was created by the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purpose of the Registration of Marks. It consists of a list of classes with explanatory notes and an alphabetical list of goods and services indicating into which class the goods and services fall. Use of