The Court of Justice analyzed the concept of shape in light of the provisions of Article 7(1)(e)(iii) of Regulation No 207/2009 concluding that a sign consisting of two-dimensional decorative motifs, which are affixed to goods, such as fabric or paper, does not ‘consist exclusively of the shape’, within the meaning of the said provision.

The Court of Justice gave guidance with respect to the infringement of the exclusive distribution right by a retailer through the storage by the retailer of goods bearing a motif protected by copyright on the territory of the Member state, namely if the said storage of the goods may constitute an infringement.

In this judgment, the Court of Justice explained that the taste of a food product could not be protected by copyright under EU law. A Dutch court had asked the CJEU to clarify whether the taste of a food product could qualify as a ‘work’ in the sense of Article2(1) of the Berne Conventionand the Information Society Directive (Directive2001/29/EC)

The Court of Justice analyzed the exclusive right of the proprietor of a Community trademark in light of the provisions of Article 9(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 of 26 February 2009 and concluded that the article must be interpreted as the exclusive right of the proprietor of a Community trademark to prohibit all third parties from using, in the course of trade, signs identical with or similar to its trade mark extends to a third-party proprietor of a later registered Community trademark, without the need for that latter mark to have been declared invalid beforehand.