ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE EIGHTH CHAMBER OF THE GENERAL COURT
12 April 2024 0F(*)
(Removal from the Register)
In Case T-574/23,
Hoya Medical Singapore Pte Ltd, established in Singapore (Singapore), represented by J. Eberhardt, lawyer,
applicant,
v
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), represented by E. Markakis, acting as Agent,
defendant,
the other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervener before the General Court, being
Alcon Inc., established in Fribourg (Switzerland), represented by I. Fowler and C. Stöber, lawyers,
1 By its action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicant, Hoya Medical Singapore Pte Ltd, seeks the annulment of the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 19 July 2023 in Case R 2120/2021-4.
2 By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 7 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, since it had reached a settlement with the intervener. It sought no order as to costs.
3 By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 14 March 2024, the intervener accepted the discontinuance of the proceedings. It requested the Court to make a decision on costs based on Article 136(3) of the Rules of Procedure and to rule that each party shall bear its own costs.
4 By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 19 March 2024, the defendant informed the Court that it had no objection to the discontinuance of the proceedings and thus to the removal of the case from the General Court’s Register. Furthermore, it submitted that, since no oral hearing was organised in the present case, it had incurred no recoverable costs. 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 According to Article 136(3) of the Rules of Procedure, where the parties have come to an agreement on costs, the decision as to costs is to be in accordance with that agreement.
6 The applicant and the intervener shall therefore bear their costs in accordance with the agreement reached between them.
7 As regards the costs of the defendant, the latter requested that the applicant be ordered to pay the costs in accordance with Article 136(1) of the Rules of Procedure. Nevertheless, the defendant admitted that, since no oral hearing was organised in the present case, it had incurred no recoverable costs, with the result that its request becomes devoid of purpose.
8 In those circumstances, the case should be removed from the Register and the applicant and the intervener ordered to bear their costs in accordance with the agreement reached between them.
On those grounds,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE EIGHTH CHAMBER OF THE GENERAL COURT
hereby orders:
1. Case T-574/23 is removed from the Register of the General Court.
2. Hoya Medical Singapore Pte Ltd and Alcon Inc. shall bear their costs relating to Case T‑574/23 in accordance with the terms of their agreement.
Luxembourg, 12 April 2024.