Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 20 September 2017 — The Tea Board v European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), Delta Lingerie

(Joined Cases C-673/15 P to C-676/15 P) ¹

(Appeal — EU trade mark — Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Article 8(1)(b) — Word marks and figurative marks including the word element ‘darjeeling’ or ‘darjeeling collection de lingerie’ — Opposition by the proprietor of EU collective marks — Collective marks consisting of the geographical indication ‘Darjeeling’ — Article 66(2) — Essential function — Conflict with applications for registration of individual trade marks — Likelihood of confusion — Definition — Similarity of goods and services — Criteria for assessment — Article 8(5))

Language of the cases: English

Parties

Appellant: The Tea Board (represented by: M. Maier and A. Nordemann, Rechtsanwälte)

Other parties to the proceedings: European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) (represented by: J. Crespo Carrillo, acting as Agent), Delta Lingerie (represented by: G. Marchais and P. Martini-Berthon, avocats)

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.    Dismisses the appeals;

2.    Orders The Tea Board to pay the costs of the main appeals;

3.    Orders Delta Lingerie to pay the costs of the cross-appeal.

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¹ OJ C 106, 21.3.2016.