In Libertel Groep v Benelux Merkenbureau ( case C-104 / 01 ) dated May 6, 2003 the ECJ repeats the criteria from Sieckmann v German Patent Office ( case C-273 / 00 ) that graphical representation, preferably means by images, lines or characters, and that the representation must be clear, precise, self-contained, easily accessible, intelligible, durable and objective.

One concerns a houseboat which was moored in two states ( ECJ c. 224 / 97 Erich Ciola ), another concerns the rights to fish in the Bay of Bregenz.

In Cassis de Dijon ( Rewe-Zentral AG v Bundesmonopolverwaltung für Branntwein case 120 / 78 ) the ECJ drew a distinction between measures in breach of Article 34 TFEU which were indistinctly applicable as opposed to distinctly applicable.

In Dr. Ralf Sieckmann vs Deutsches Patent-und Markenamt ( case C-273 / 00 ), a judgement of the European Court of Justice issued on December 12, 2002, the ECJ held in relation to trademarks in the European Community that:

The ' Golden Share ' Judgments of the European Court of Justice and Liberalization of the European Capital Markets, available in the German Law Journal as well as Peer Zumbansen and Daniel Saam, The ECJ, Volkswagen and European Corporate Law: Reshaping the European Varieties of Capitalism, CLPE Research Paper 30 / 2007, ( also published in 7 German Law Journal 1027 )

ECJ cases C-195 / 09 and C-427 / 09 effectively ruled that SPCs for medicaments ( human or veterinary ) are only available for those “ products ” that:

In C-130 / 11, the ECJ held that an SPC can be granted regardless of the prior marketing of earlier ( veterinary ) medicinal products containing the " product " in question.

The Hässle AB case ( ECJ case C-127 / 00 ) was one of that small number.

In Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen, the European Court of Justice ( ECJ ) ruled that the provisions of the then EEC treaty were capable of having direct effect before the national courts of EEC member states.

In Marshall v Southampton and South West Area Health Authority ( Teaching ) ( No 1 ), the ECJ ruled that while directives could also have direct effect, they could only do so in respect of public bodies.

In Enderby v Frenchay Health Authority the ECJ held that although a speech therapist being paid less than male counterparts could not be justified only on the ground that this resulted from different collective agreements, if a disparity came from market forces, this was an objective justification.

Having ruled in Johnston v Royal Ulster Constabulary that a right to fair procedures was one of the general principles of EU law, in Kremzow v Austria the ECJ had to decide whether or not a member state was obliged to apply that principle in relation to a wrongful conviction for murder.

In Grad v Finanzamt Traunstein, a case involving VAT, the ECJ ruled that a directive could be directly effective, as they imposed an obligation to achieve a required result.

In Von Colson and Kamann v Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, the ECJ ruled that national courts should interpret national law in line with the directive, " in so far as it is given discretion to do so under national law ".

While Von Colson dealt with a situation where a member state had failed to implement a directive correctly, in Marleasing v La Comercial Internacional de Alimentacion the ECJ extended indirect effect to situations where the member state concerned had not implemented the directive at all.

In a landmark case, the European Court of Justice ( ECJ ) ruled on 5 July 1994 against the British practice of importing produce from northern Cyprus based on certificates of origin and phytosanitary certificates granted by the de facto authorities.

The ECJ decided that only goods bearing certificates of origin from the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus could be imported by EU member states.

It was also foreseen that there would be clauses inserted in bipartite international treaties which would allow the referral of disputes to the ECJ ; this indeed occurred, with such provisions found in treaties between Czechoslovakia and Austria, and between Czechoslovakia and Poland.

The Court of Justice of the European Union ( ECJ ) is not related to the European Court of Human Rights.

Therefore, the ECJ refers to the case-law of the Court of Human Rights and treats the Convention on Human Rights as though it was part of the EU's legal system.

On 29 April 2009, Talat stated that if the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ( that will put the last point in the Orams ' case ) makes a decision just like in the same spirit with the decision of European Court of Justice ( ECJ ) then the Negotiation Process in Cyprus will be damaged in such a way that it will never be repaired once more.

Consequently, there is no right to appeal at any stage in UK court proceedings to the ECJ.

However, any court in the UK may refer a particular point of law relating to European Union law to the ECJ for determination.

However, once the ECJ has given its interpretation, the case is referred back to the court that referred it.

The decision to refer a question to the ECJ can be made by the court of its own initiative, or at the request of any of the parties before it.

Where a question of European law is in doubt and there is no appeal from the decision of a court, it is required ( except under the doctrine of acte clair ) to refer the question to the ECJ ; otherwise any referral is entirely at the discretion of the court.

While direct effect was first developed in relation to treaty articles, the ECJ subsequently ruled that regulations and decisions could also have direct effect as well.

However, the ECJ has taken a broad view of what constitutes a public body and has found that a state-owned gas company was a public body subject to direct effect.

Following ECJ guidance, the House of Lords held by a majority that this was a large enough disparity in coverage, which required justification by the government.

The ECJ held the school would not be acting unlawfully if it did in fact follow its policy.

This approach, developed initially in ECJ case law, is now reflected in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union article 157 ( 4 ) and was put into UK law in the Equality Act 2010 sections 157-158.

On a reference from the German court, the ECJ ruled that whilst the application of Union law could not depend on its consistency with national constitutions, fundamental rights did form an " integral part of the general principles of Community law " and that inconsistency with fundamental right could form the basis of a successful challenge to a European law.

In ruling as it did in Handelsgesellschaft the ECJ had, in effect, created a doctrine of unwritten rights which bound the Community institutions.

However it did come with the political weight of having been approved by three powerful institutions and as such was regularly cited by the ECJ as a source of fundamental rights.

In interpreting the human rights protections provided by the general principles of EU law ( described in the Court cases section above ), the ECJ had already dealt with the issue of whether the rights protected by those general principles applied to member states.

Their plea was initially granted by a judge then overturned but was the heard by the European Court of Human Rights ( ECtHR ), and the European Court of Justice ( ECJ ).

The ECJ ruled that the scheme infringed then Article 86 ( 1 ), as " undertakings are unable to entrust the management of such a pension scheme to a single insurer and the resulting restriction of competition derives directly from the exclusive right conferred on the sectoral pension fund.

* the European Court of Justice ( ECJ ), an institution of the European Union ( EU ) for the resolution of disputes under EU law, based in Luxembourg.

Others include the Eclipse Java Compiler ( ECJ ), which is maintained by the Eclipse Foundation, and Jikes, which is no longer actively maintained.

Kenney found that ECJ clerks provide legal and linguistic expertise ( all opinions are issued in French ), ease the workload of their members, participate in oral and written interactions between chambers, and provide continuity as members rapidly change.

Advocates General are also part of the European Court of Justice ( ECJ ), where there are eight of them.