Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 12 November 2015 —
Orthogen v OHIM — Arthrex (IRAP)
(Case T‑253/13)
Community trade mark — Invalidity proceedings — Community word mark IRAP — Absolute ground for refusal — Lack of distinctive character — Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Article 52(1)(a) of Regulation No 207/2009
1. Community trade mark — Appeals procedure — Appeal to a Board of Appeal — Competence of the Boards of Appeal — New full examination of the merits (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 64(1)) (see para. 21)
2. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Concept (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see para. 26)
3. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Assessment of distinctive character — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see paras 27, 38, 47, 48)
4. Community trade mark — Surrender, revocation and invalidity — Absolute grounds for invalidity — Registration contrary to Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation No 207/2009 — Verbal mark IRAP (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(b) and 52(1)(a)) (see paras 35, 41, 56, 58)
5. 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. 45)
Re:
| ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 21 February 2013 (Case R 382/2012-1), relating to invalidity proceedings between Arthrex GmbH and Orthogen AG. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Orthogen AG to bear its own costs and those incurred by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) and by Arthrex GmbH. |