Action brought on 16 December 2011 - Boehringer Ingelheim International v OHIM (RELY-ABLE)

(Case T-640/11)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH (Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany) (represented by: V. von Bomhard, A. Renck and C. Steudtner, lawyers)

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

Form of order sought

Annul the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) of 30 September 2011 in case R 756/2011-4;

Order that the costs of the proceedings be borne by the defendant.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Community trade mark concerned: The word mark "RELY-ABLE" for services in classes 38, 41 and 42 - International Registration (IR) No 1044333

Decision of the Examiner: Rejected the protection of the mark in the European Union for all the services applied for.

Decision of the Board of Appeal: Dismissed the appeal

Pleas in law: Infringement of Article 7(1)(b) of Council Regulation No 207/2009, as the Board of Appeal erred in finding that the sign applied for is "not particularly fanciful or arbitrary" and an "obvious misspelling of the word reliable" with the result that it would be perceived as laudatory. It further erred when assuming that misspellings are "a frequent feature of promotional messages" and that this was relevant to the case at hand.

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