Judgment of the General Court of 7 July 2021 – Ardagh Metal Beverage Holdings v EUIPO (Combination of sounds on opening a can of soft drink)

(Case T-668/19) ¹

(EU trade mark – Application for an EU trade mark consisting of a combination of sounds on opening a can of soft drink – Absolute ground for refusal – No distinctive character – Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 – Article 95(1) of Regulation 2017/1001)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Applicant: Ardagh Metal Beverage Holdings GmbH & Co. KG (Bonn, Germany) (represented by: S. Abrar, lawyer)

Defendant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (represented by: M. Fischer, D. Hanf and D. Walicka, acting as Agents)

Re:

Action brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 24 July 2019 (Case R 530/2019-2), concerning an application for registration of a combination of sounds on opening a can of soft drink as an EU trade mark.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.    Dismisses the action;

2.    Orders the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to bear its own costs incurred before the General Court;

3.    Orders Ardagh Metal Beverage Holdings GmbH & Co. KG to bear its own costs incurred before the General Court and the expenses necessarily incurred for the purpose of the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO.

____________

¹     OJ C 399, 25.11.2019.