In the case OHIM/National Lottery Commission (C-530/12 P) the Advocate-General Mr. Yves Bot submitted his conclusions on 28 November 2013, and the hearing before the Court of Justice is planned for the next March 27. The interest in this case is evident because it deals with the possibility that national laws can be considered as European Community Law, by studying thoroughly the doctrine of the judgment given by the Court of Justice on July 2011 (Edwin/OHIM).

The precedents on the case being currently examined by the Advocate-General are the registration of a mark by the OHIM and the subsequent application for the declaration of invalidity by the holder of a previous copyright protected under national legislation (specifically the Italian legislation). Therefore, the point here is to determine to which extend the OHIM must get informed and search the correct interpretation of a national law regulation invoked by one of the parties, whose appreciation for the existence of grounds for invalidity depends on the content and the scope thereof.

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Application of National Law by the OHIM