http://static.springsource.org/spring/docs/3.0.x/spring-framework-reference/html/mvc.html#mvc-controller
Spring Date / time parsing
Here’s a few ways to format datetime / date / time values via spring;
Use the @DateTimeFormat annotation to specify the format Date values need to be displayed in. Style comes in a few flavours (see the link at the bottom), and pattern uses the standard java pattern for formatting.
http://www.developer.com/java/web/article.php/3879471/Spring-Framework-30-and-Annotation-driven-Formatting.htm