ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE SEVENTH CHAMBER OF THE GENERAL COURT
18 April 2024 0F(*)
(Removal from the Register)
In Case T-532/23,
Ardigen S.A., established in Kraków (Poland), represented by T. Gawliczek, lawyer,
applicant,
v
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), represented by E. Nicolás Gómez, acting as Agent,
defendant,
the other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervener before the General Court, being
bioMérieux, established in Marcy l’Étoile (France), represented by B. Fontaine, lawyer,
1 By its action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicant, Ardigen S.A., seeks the annulment of the decision of the First Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 9 June 2023 (Case R 1524/2022-1).
2 By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 20 March 2024, the applicant informed the Court, in accordance with Article 125 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, that it wished to discontinue proceedings. The applicant requested that costs be awarded in accordance with Articles 136 and 138 of the Rules of Procedure.
3 By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 25 March 2024, the intervener took notice of the applicant’s wish to discontinue proceedings and applied for an order on costs in its favour pursuant to Article 136(1) of the Rules of Procedure.
4 By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 2 April 2024, the defendant informed the Court that it agreed with the discontinuance of the proceedings. It informed the Court that it had not incurred any recoverable cost in the present case. Despite this, the defendant requested that the applicant be ordered to pay the costs in accordance with Article 136(1) of the Rules of Procedure.
5 Article 136(1) of the Rules of Procedure provides that a party who discontinues or withdraws from proceedings shall be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for in the other party’s observations on the discontinuance.
6 The defendant having admitted that since no oral hearing had been organised in the present case, it has incurred no recoverable costs, its request that the applicant be ordered to pay the costs in accordance with Article 136(1) of the Rules of Procedure is devoid of purpose concerning the defendant.
7 The case should therefore be removed from the Register and the applicant ordered to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the intervener.
On those grounds,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE SEVENTH CHAMBER OF THE GENERAL COURT
hereby orders:
1. Case T-532/23 is removed from the Register of the General Court.
2. Ardigen S.A. shall bear its own costs and pay those incurred by bioMérieux.
Luxembourg, 18 April 2024.
V. Di Bucci | | K. Kowalik-Bańczyk |