Judgment of the General Court of 17 January 2024 – Athlet v EUIPO – Heuver Banden Groothandel (ATHLET)
(Case T-650/22) 1
(EU trade mark – Invalidity proceedings – EU word mark ATHLET – Absolute ground for invalidity – Bad faith – Article 52(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 59(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001))
Language of the case: German
Parties
Applicant: Athlet Ltd (London, United Kingdom) (represented by: S. Reinhard, lawyer)
Defendant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (represented by: D. Hanf, acting as Agent)
Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervener before the General Court: Heuver Banden Groothandel BV (Den Ham Ov, Netherlands) (represented by: R. Kunze, F. Tyra and E. Beer, lawyers)
Re:
By its action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicant seeks the annulment of the decision of the First Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 8 August 2022 (Case R 2214 /2019-1).
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
1. Dismisses the action;
2. Orders Athlet Ltd to bear its own costs and to pay Heuver Banden Groothandel BV’s costs;
2. Orders EUIPO to bear its own costs.
____________
1 OJ C 35, 30.1.2023.