Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 6 March 2015 —
Braun Melsungen v OHIM (SafeSet)
(Case T‑513/13)
Community trade mark — Application for Community word mark SafeSet — Absolute grounds for refusal — Descriptive character — Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Obligation to state reasons — First sentence of Article 75 of Regulation No 207/2009 — Examination of the facts by the Office of its own motion — Article 76(1) of Regulation No 207/2009
1. Community trade mark — Procedural provisions — Statement of reasons for decisions — Article 75, first sentence, of Regulation No 207/2009 — Scope identical to that of Article 296 TFEU — Logical statement of reasons (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 75, first sentence) (see paras 11, 12)
2. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goods — Concept — Mark composed of a word or neologism resulting from a combination of elements (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 29-31)
3. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goods — Word mark SafeSet (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 37-40)
4. Community trade mark — Decisions of the Office — Principle of equal treatment — Principle of sound administration — OHIM’s previous decision-making practice (see paras 44-46)
Re:
| ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 27 June 2013 (Case R 1598/2012‑1), concerning an application for registration of the word mark SafeSet as a Community trade mark. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders B. Braun Melsungen AG to pay the costs. |