Parallel Import

Parallel import as a phenomenon in international trade appeared in the beginning of 20th century and since then has been the object of lively discussions and debates in decisions of a number of national courts, as well as decisions of the European Court of Justice.

The analysis of the different legislations throughout the world shows that the term “parallel import” is practically not legally defined in any normative act, but is widely used in practice. Bulgarian legislation does not contain a legal definition of the term either, but it can be encountered more and more often in articles by various Bulgarian authors, in a decision of the Commission on Competition Protection, as well as in discussions related to issues of the intellectual property.

The disputableness of the issue of parallel import in an international and national aspect, the problem moments in its admission, as well as some amendments in the Law on Trademarks and Geographical Indications (LTGI), the Customs Act and the Regulation on the Border Measures for Protection of Rights over Intellectual Property, which aimed at INTER ALIA and regulation of parallel import, show that additional research is necessary of some issues that this type of import poses in practice.

The accumulated practical and research experience in parallel import and the inseparably connected to it doctrine for exhaustion of trademark rights show that in their research they should be regarded as complex legal phenomena, as they contain elements of the laws on intellectual property (in particular – trademark laws), as well as the laws on competition protection and the competition laws.

Due to the economic nature of the relations that are regulated by these law branches, the research on parallel import and the exhaustion of trademark rights go hand in hand with the economic analyses and theories, which have intellectual property as an object. The present commentary actually analyses this rule and limits itself only in the problems related to exhaustion of trademark rights and parallel import of goods, which are connected with trademarks. The problems regarding repackaging and the change of the goods state (the hypothesis of Article 15, paragraph 2 of the LTGI), the exhaustion of copyrights and the related rights, the exhaustion of patent rights and parallel import of goods bearing those rights are outside the scope of this article.

Parallel import substance >>