Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 7 November 2014 —
Urb Rulmenti Suceava v OHIM — Adiguzel (URB)
(Case T‑506/13)
Community trade mark — Invalidity proceedings — Community word mark URB — Earlier national collective word mark URB and earlier national collective figurative mark URB — Absolute ground for refusal — No bad faith on the part of the proprietor of the Community trade mark — Article 52(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Relative ground for refusal — No authorisation by the proprietor of the earlier marks — Article 8(1)(b) and Article 53(1)(a) of Regulation No 207/2009 — No breach of Article 72 of Regulation No 207/2009
1. Community trade mark — Surrender, revocation and invalidity — Absolute grounds for invalidity — Applicant in bad faith at the time of lodging the trade mark application — Criteria for assessment — Taking account of all the relevant factors existing at the time of filing the application for registration — Applicant’s knowledge that a third party is using an identical or similar sign — Intention of the applicant — Degree of legal protection of the signs at issue — Commercial logic underlying the registration of the sign contested as a Community trade mark — Chronology of events characterising the filing of the trade mark application — Extent of reputation (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 52(1)(b)) (see paras 25‑30, 33-36, 43)
2. Community trade mark — Surrender, revocation and invalidity — Absolute grounds for invalidity — Applicant in bad faith at the time of lodging the trade mark application — Word mark URB (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 52(1)(b)) (see paras 37-47)
Re:
| ACTION brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of OHIM of 12 July 2013 (Case R 1309/2012‑4) concerning invalidity proceedings between Urb Rulmenti Suceava SA and Mr Harun Adiguzel. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Urb Rulmenti Suceava SA to pay the costs; |
3. | | Orders Mr Harun Adiguzel to bear his own costs. |