Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2019:152
Date: 2019-03-12
Language of the case: English
Court formation: First Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded;Action for annulment - inadmissible

summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — General reference to other documents not annexed to the application — Inadmissibility (Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 21, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 177(1)(d)) (see paras 14, 15) 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 — Meaning — 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 20-22) 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 — Assessment of the descriptive nature of a sign — Criteria (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 23) 4. EU trade mark — Appeals procedure — Action before the EU judicature — Condition of admissibility — Pleas directed only against decisions of the Boards of Appeal (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 72(1)) (see para. 40) 5. EU trade mark — Decisions of the Office — Principle of equal treatment — Principle of sound administration — EUIPO’s previous decision-making practice — Principle of legality — Need for a strict and complete examination in each particular case (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001) (see paras 54-56) 6. 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 SMARTSURFACE (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 57, 58) Re: Action brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 25 May 2018 (Case R 1765/2017-2), relating to an application for registration of the word sign SMARTSURFACE as an EU trade mark. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Novartis AG to pay the costs.