Action brought on 5 October 2009 - General Bearing v OHIM (GENERAL BEARING CORPORATION)

(Case T-394/09)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant(s): General Bearing Corp. (West Nyack, United States) (represented by: A. Dellmeier-Beschorner, lawyer)

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

Form of order sought

Annul the decision of the First Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) of 16 July 2009 in case R 73/2009-1;

Order the defendant to register the Community trade mark concerned;

Order the defendant to pay the costs incurred in the proceedings before the court; and

Set a date for an oral hearing if such is deemed necessary.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Community trade mark concerned: The word mark "GENERAL BEARING CORPORATION" for goods in classes 7 and 12

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 Articles 7(1)(b), 7(1)(c) and 7(2) of Council Regulation 207/2009, as well as of general principles of trademark law, as the Board of Appeal wrongly found that the Community trade mark concerned is not eligible for registration due to the fact that it is a purely descriptive term.

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