Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2022:47
Date: 2022-02-02
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Judgment of the General Court (Tenth Chamber) of 2 February 2022 – Maternus v EUIPO – adp Gauselmann (WILD) (Case T‑116/21) (EU trade mark – Invalidity proceedings – EU word mark WILD – Absolute ground for refusal – Descriptive character – Article 52(1)(a) and Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 59(1)(a) and Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001)) 1. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service – Assessment of the descriptive nature of a sign – Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(c), and 52(1)(a)) (see paras 20, 50) 2. EU trade mark – Procedural provisions – Statement of reasons for decisions – First sentence of Article 94(1) of Regulation 2017/1001 – Scope identical to that of Article 296 TFEU (Art. 296 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 94(1), first sentence) (see para. 21) 3. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service – Word mark WILD (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(c), and 52(1)(a)) (see paras 27, 36, 41, 46, 53, 54, 58) 4. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Registration contrary to Article 7 of Regulation No 207/2009 – Relevant date for the examination of an absolute ground for nullity – Date of lodging the application for registration (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7 and 52(1)(a)) (see para. 38) 5. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service – Concept of characteristic (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(c), and 52(1)(a)) (see para. 45) 6. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service – Existence of other signs or indications to designate the same characteristics – Irrelevant (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(c), and 52(1)(a)) (see para. 47) Re: Action brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 9 December 2020 (Case R 932/2019-1), relating to invalidity proceedings between adp Gauselmann and Maternus. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Maternus GmbH to pay the costs.