Judgment of the General Court of 24 October 2018 — Pirelli Tyre v EUIPO — Yokohama Rubber (Representation of an L-shaped groove)

(Case T-447/16) ¹

(EU trade mark — Invalidity proceedings — EU figurative mark representing an L-shaped groove — Absolute ground for refusal — Sign consisting exclusively of the shape of goods which is necessary to obtain a technical result — Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 40/94 — Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) — Regulation (EU) 2015/2424 — Application of the law ratione temporis — Shape of the goods — Nature of the sign — Account taken of material relevant to identifying the essential characteristics of the sign — General interest underlying Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation No 40/94)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Pirelli Tyre SpA (Milan, Italy) (represented by: T.M. Müller and F. Togo, lawyers)

Defendant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (represented by: J. Ivanauskas, acting as Agent)

The other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervener before the General Court: The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd (Tokyo, Japan) (represented by: F. Boscariol de Roberto, D. Martucci and I. Gatto, lawyers)

Re:

Action brought against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 28 April 2016 (Case R 2583/2014-5), relating to invalidity proceedings between Yokohama Rubber and Pirelli Tyre.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Annuls paragraphs 2 and 3 of the operative part of the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 28 April 2016 (Case R 2583/2014 5);

Orders EUIPO to bear its own costs and to pay the costs incurred by Pirelli Tyre SpA;

Orders Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd to bear its own costs.

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¹     OJ C 350, 26.9.2016.