The paper considers the position of trade marks in the European Communities, particularly their conflicts with the rules on free movement of goods within the EU and with EC competition law. These conflicts are closely related to each other. It will be argued that various interests clash in these conflicts, the difficult resolution of which has fallen to the European Court of Justice. Besides dealing with the legal aspects of these two conflicts, the paper will also explore the reasons behind them, and its broader business and political ramifications. The paper adopts a critical approach to...