Action brought on 21 December 2007 - Wella v OHIM (TAME IT)

(Case T-471/07)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Wella AG (Darmstadt, Germany) (represented by: B. Klingberg, K. Sandberg, lawyers)

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

Form of order sought

That the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of 24 October 2007 in Case R 713/2007-2 be annulled;

that the defendant be ordered to bear the costs of the proceedings including the costs of the appeal proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Trade mark concerned: The international word mark "TAME IT" for goods in Class 3 (international registration No 879 186) - request for EC territorial extension of protection in accordance with the Madrid Protocol

Decision of the examiner: Refusal on absolute grounds for all the goods applied for

Decision of the Board of Appeal: Partly upheld the appeal and allowed the EC territorial extension of the protection of international registration No 879 186 to proceed in part

Pleas in law: Infringement of Article 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(c) of Council Regulation 40/94.

According to the applicant, the Board of Appeal based its decision on a purely theoretical philological analysis of the mark applied for with regard to grammar, composition and spelling rules as well as structure and syntax of the trade mark applied for, completely leaving aside the overall impression of the mark to the average consumer.

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