Supreme Court rules against UK Sun importer

Yesterday's judgement reverses 2010 ruling in favour of UK firm that imported 64 Sun disk drives into the EEA

Oracle has scored a victory in its long-running legal battle with UK distributor M-Tech Data following a UK Supreme Court ruling.

Server and storage giant Sun Microsystems, which Oracle bought in 2010, won a High Court judgement against M-Tech in December 2009 for violating its trademarks.

The Mancunian supplier bought 64 Sun disk drives from a US broker and imported them into the European Economic Area (EEA) without the vendor's authorisation. The drives had previously been sold in China, Chile and the US but Sun had never consented to these goods being put on the market in the EEA.

In August 2010, M-Tech got the better of its pursuers as the Court of Appeal refused to reinforce the High Court's rulings. M-Tech argued that Sun had no place enforcing its trademark rights because independent traders are unable to tell the provenance of products.

However, the Court of Appeal yesterday unanimously allowed an appeal by Oracle and restored the original order. It did not make a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

"The exercise of Sun's rights was not an abuse of rights in EU law," a Supreme Court statement read.

"A reference to the CJEU is not necessary as the legislative and legal principles that made M-Tech's case impossible are entirely clear."

In a statement sent to ChannelWeb, an Oracle representative said: "Oracle is pleased with the recent decision of the Supreme Court, which has issued an important confirmation of the law in this area which will be welcomed by all brand owners who distribute products within the European Union."

M-Tech's legal team could not be reached at the time of going to press.