ORDER OF THE GENERAL COURT (Sixth Chamber)
24 November 2021 (*)
(Rules on languages)
In Case T‑306/20,
Hijos de Moisés Rodríguez González, SA, established in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain), represented by J. García Domínguez, lawyer,
applicant,
v
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), represented by A. Folliard-Monguiral, D. Hanf and E. Markakis, acting as Agents,
defendant,
the other party to the proceedings before the Grand Board of Appeal of EUIPO being
Ireland,
the other party to the proceedings before the Grand Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervener before the General Court, being
Ornua Co-operative Ltd, established in Dublin (Ireland), represented by E. Armijo Chávarri and A. Sanz Cerralbo, lawyers,
ACTION brought against the decision of the Grand Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 2 March 2020 (Case R 1499/2016-G), relating to invalidity proceedings between, on the one hand, Ireland and Ornua Co‑operative Ltd and, on the other,Hijos de Moisés Rodríguez González, SA,
THE GENERAL COURT (Sixth Chamber),
composed of A. Marcoulli, President, S. Frimodt Nielsen and J. Schwarcz (Rapporteur), Judges,
Registrar: E. Coulon,
makes the following
Order
1 By application lodged at the Registry of the General Court on 19 May 2020, the applicant, Hijos de Moisés Rodríguez González, SA, brought the present action.
2 The intervener, Ornua Co-operative Ltd, lodged its response on 19 January 2021.
3 The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) lodged its response on 20 January 2021.
4 By letter lodged at the Registry of the General Court on 28 January 2021, EUIPO requested that a hearing be held.
5 By letter lodged at the Registry of the General Court on 19 November 2021, the applicant requested, on the basis of Article 45(1)(c) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, to be permitted to use Spanish during the oral part of the procedure and not English, which is the language of the case.
6 EUIPO and the intervener were invited to submit their observations on that request for derogation from the language rules.
7 On 22 November 2021, EUIPO indicated that it had no objection to the applicant’s request.
8 On the same date, the intervener indicated, in substance, that it objected to the applicant’s request.
9 In accordance with Article 45(1)(c) of the Rules of Procedure, at the request of one of the parties, and after the other parties have been heard, the use of another of the languages mentioned in Article 44 of the Rules of Procedure, including Spanish, for all or part of the proceedings may be authorised.
10 In the present case, the Court finds that no evidence has been adduced to show that the derogation from the language rules requested by the applicant might delay the procedure or prejudice the procedural rights of the other parties to the proceedings (see, to that effect, order of 17 November 1995, Salt Union v Commission, T‑330/94, EU:T:1995:194, paragraph 27).
11 Accordingly, the applicant’s request to use Spanish during the oral part of the procedure must be granted.
On those grounds,
THE GENERAL COURT (Sixth Chamber)
hereby orders:
1) Hijos de Moisés Rodríguez González, SA, is authorised to use Spanish during the oral part of the procedure.
2) The costs are reserved.
Luxembourg, 24 November 2021.