Judgment of the General Court of 24 January 2024 – TA Towers v EUIPO – Wobben Properties (Building materials)

(Case T-201/22) ¹

(Community design – Invalidity proceedings – Registered Community design representing building materials – Ground for invalidity – Failure to comply with the requirements for protection – Article 25(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 – No individual character – Article 6 of Regulation No 6/2002)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: TA Towers ApS (Odense, Denmark) (represented by: L. Andersen, lawyer)

Defendant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (represented by: J. Ivanauskas, acting as Agent)

Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervener before the General Court: Wobben Properties GmbH (Aurich, Germany) (represented by: R.F. Böhm and A. Ebert-Weidenfeller, lawyers)

Re:

By its action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicant seeks the annulment of the decision of the Third Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 11 February 2022 (Case R 2491/2020-3).

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.    Annuls the decision of the Third Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 11 February 2022 (Case R 2491/2020‑3);

2.    Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

3.    Orders EUIPO and Wobben Properties GmbH to bear their own costs and each to pay half of the costs incurred by TA Towers ApS before the Court and before the Board of Appeal.

____________

¹     OJ C 222, 7.6.2022.