Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2019:355
Date: 2019-05-23
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Third Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded

Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 23 May 2019 — Arçelik v EUIPO (MicroGarden) (Case T‑364/18) (EU trade mark — Application for EU word mark MicroGarden — Absolute ground for refusal — Descriptiveness — Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) 1. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Aim — Need to preserve availability (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 16) 2. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Concept/Meaning/Definition — Mark composed of a word or neologism resulting from a combination of elements (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 17-19) 3. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Criteria (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 20) 4. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Word mark MicroGarden (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 23-28) 5. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Overlap of the scope of the grounds set out in Article 7(1)(b) and Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation 2017/1001 (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 7(1)(b) and (c)) (see para. 32) Re Action brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 4 April 2018 (Case R 163/2018-2), relating to an application for registration of the word sign MicroGarden as an EU trade mark. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Arçelik AS to pay the costs.