Action brought on 22 February 2011 - American Express Marketing & Development v OHIM (IP ZONE)

(Case T-102/11)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: American Express Marketing & Development Corp. (New York, United States) (represented by: V. Spitz, A. Gaul, T. Golda and S. Kirschstein-Freund, lawyers)

Defendant: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs)

Form of order sought

Annul the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) of 1 December 2010 in case R 1125/2010-2;

In the alternative, amend the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) of 1 December 2010 in case R 1125/2010-2, and rule that the appeal is justified;

Order the defendant to pay the costs of the appeal proceedings and of the proceedings before the Court.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Community trade mark concerned: The word mark "IP ZONE" for services in class 42

Decision of the Examiner: Refused the application for a Community trade mark

Decision of the Board of Appeal: Dismissed the appeal

Pleas in law: Infringement of Article 7(1)(b) and (c) of Council Regulation No 207/2009, as the Board of Appeal found that the trade mark lacks the necessary distinctiveness and is descriptive with respect to the services in question.

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