Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 16 January 2013 — Spectrum Brands (UK) v OHIM — Philips (STEAM GLIDE)
(Case T‑544/11)
Community trade mark — Invalidity proceedings — Community word mark STEAM GLIDE — 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 which may serve to designate the characteristics of goods — Concept (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 15-18)
2. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goods — Concept — Neologism consisting of elements descriptive of characteristics of the goods or services concerned — Whether included where the nature of the combination is not unusual (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 22)
3. Approximation of laws — Trade marks — Directive 89/104 — Registration of a trade mark refused or trade mark declared invalid — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goods — Concept — Neologism consisting of elements descriptive of characteristics of the goods or services concerned — Whether included where the nature of the combination is not unusual (Council Directive 89/104, Art. 3(1)(c)) (see para. 23)
4. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goods — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Word mark STEAM GLIDE (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b) and (c)) (see paras 25-41, 47-50)
5. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Separate examination of the various grounds for refusal — Interpretation of the grounds for refusal in the light of the public interest underlying each of them (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b) and (c)) (see para. 45)
6. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Overlap between the scope of the grounds for refusal set out in subparagraphs (b) and (c) of Article 7(1) of Regulation No 207/2009 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b) and (c)) (see para. 49)
Re:
| ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 14 July 2011 (Case R 1289/2010‑1), concerning invalidity proceedings between Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV and Spectrum Brands (UK) Ltd. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Spectrum Brands (UK) Ltd to pay, in addition to its own costs, the costs incurred by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) and by Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV. |