ORDER OF THE GENERAL COURT (Fourth Chamber)
11 April 2013 (1)
(Community trade mark – Opposition – Withdrawal of the opposition – No need to adjudicate)
In Case T-467/12,
Tridium, Inc., established in Richmond (United States), represented by
M. Nentwig, lawyer,
applicant,
v
Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM), represented by P. Geroulakos, acting as Agent,
defendant,
the other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of OHIM being
q-bus Mediatektur GmbH, established Berlin (Germany), represented by
M.-T. Schott, lawyer,
ACTION brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of OHIM of 2 August 2012 (Case R 1943/2011-2), relating to opposition proceedings between q-bus Mediatektur GmbH and Tridium, Inc.,
THE GENERAL COURT (Fourth Chamber),
composed of I. Pelikánová, President, K. Jürimäe, M. van der Woude (Rapporteur), Judges,
Registrar: E. Coulon,
makes the following
Order
1 By letter lodged at the Registry of the General Court on 6 February 2013, the applicant informed the Court of an agreement between itself and the other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal and that, pursuant to that agreement, the other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal has withdrawn its opposition to the application for registration of the contested mark. It also informed the Court that therefore each party shall bear its own costs.
2 By letter lodged at the Registry of the General Court on 11 February 2013, the defendant expressed its agreement with the application for a declaration that there is no need to adjudicate and requested that the applicant be ordered to pay the costs.
3 By letter lodged at the Registry of the Court on 21 February 2013, the other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal confirmed the existence of an amicable settlement between itself and the applicant. It also requested that the Court order each party to bear its own costs.
4 Pursuant to Article 113 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court, it suffices in the present case to find that, in the light of the withdrawal of the opposition, the present action has become devoid of purpose. There is therefore no longer any need to adjudicate on the action (order in Case T‑10/01 Lichtwer Pharma v OHIM – Biofarma (Sedonium) [2003] ECR II‑2225, paragraphs 16 to 18).
5 Article 87(6) of the Rules of Procedure provides that, where a case does not proceed to judgment, the costs are in the discretion of the Court.
6 In the present case, the Court considers that the applicant and the other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal must be ordered to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the defendant.
On those grounds,
THE GENERAL COURT (Fourth Chamber)
hereby orders:
1. There is no need to adjudicate on the action.
2. The applicant and the other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal shall bear their own costs and shall each pay half of those incurred by the defendant.
Luxembourg, 11 April 2013.