Supreme Court decides to refer questions to ECJ in counterfeit Rolex case

The Danish Supreme Court has decided to refer questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling in a case involving a fake Rolex watch.

In Rolex SA v Blomqvist (Case V 29/10, November 8 2011), the Maritime and Commercial Court had decided that the import of one fake Rolex watch bought by a private citizen for his own use from a Chinese internet store implied a violation of Rolex SA's trademark rights and that the watch should be destroyed without compensation (for further details please see "Court rules on customs confiscation of counterfeit goods").

The defendant lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court, where the case was heard on September 5 2012 (Martin Blomqvist v Rolex SA, Supreme Court, 361/2011).

At the end of the hearing, the court announced that it had set down the case for judgment, which would be delivered on September 19 2012.

However, on September 18 2012 the court declared that a decision had been made to refer questions to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling. The case has thus been adjourned for working out the draft reference.

Mads Marstrand-Jørgensen, Norsker & Co, Copenhagen