Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 12 March 2014 — American Express Marketing & Development v OHIM (IP ZONE and Others)
(Joined Cases T‑102/11 and T‑369/12 to T‑371/12)
Community trade mark — Applications for Community word marks IP ZONE, EUROPE IP ZONE, IP ZONE EUROPE and EUROPEAN IP ZONE — Absolute ground for refusal — Descriptive character — Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009
1. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Aim — Need to preserve availability (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 15)
2. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Concept (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 16, 17)
3. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Assessment of distinctive character — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see para. 18)
4. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Word marks IP ZONE, EUROPE IP ZONE, IP ZONE EUROPE and EUROPEAN IP ZONE (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 24, 26-36)
Re:
| ACTIONS brought against the decisions of the Second Board of Appeal of OHIM of 1 December 2010 (Case R 1125/2010-2) and 12 June 2012 (Cases R 1451/2011-2, R 1452/2011-2 and R 1453/2011-2) concerning applications for registration of the sign IP ZONE and of the signs EUROPE IP ZONE, IP ZONE EUROPE and EUROPEAN IP ZONE, respectively, as Community trade marks. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders American Express Marketing & Development Corp. to pay the costs. |