Joint grounds for appeal were submitted by the trade associations of the German pharmaceutical industry “ Bundesverband der Pharmazeutischen Industrie e. V.”, “ Bundesfachverband der Arzneimittelhersteller e. V.”, “ Verband aktiver Pharmaunternehmen e. V.” and “ Verband Forschender Arzneimittelhersteller e. V.”, on behalf of Azupharma GmbH and Merckle GmbH, on 21 March 1997.