how exclusive is the jurisdiction of The Hague District Court?
In the Netherlands, in first instance proceedings, only the District Court The Hague, and the Presiding Judge of that Court in summary proceedings, have exclusive jurisdiction to decide actions governed by article 96 Community Trade Mark Regulation (CTMR). This exclusive jurisdiction is laid down in article 3 of the Dutch Implementation Act. Accordingly fighting a 96 CTMR action before other courts in the Netherlands is commonly regarded as no good practice. One walks the line and that line leads to The Hague. Well it seems to lead to The Hague, because it is not as simple as one and one is two. Especially not if article 103 CTMR is read carefully: this provision clearly determines that applications for provisional and protective measures in respect of a CTM or a CTM application (!) may be made to the courts of a Member State, including Community trade mark courts, even if, under the CTMR, a Community trade mark court of another Member State has jurisdiction as to the substance of the
