Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2018:215
Date: 2018-04-24
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Second Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Poland

Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 24 April 2018 – Senetic v EUIPO — HP Hewlett Packard Group (hp) (Case T‑207/17) (EU trade mark — Invalidity proceedings — EU figurative mark hp — Absolute grounds for refusal — Article 52(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 59(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) — Descriptive character — Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation No 207/2009 (now Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation 2017/1001) — No distinctive character — Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation No 207/2009 (now Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation 2017/1001) — Bad faith — Article 52(1)(b) of Regulation No 207/2009 (now Article 59(1)(b) of Regulation 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 — Meaning (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(c) and 52(1)(a)) (see paras 21-23) 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 — Assessment of the descriptive nature of a sign — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(c) and 52(1)(a)) (see para. 24) 3. 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. 25) 4. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Signs of which a trade mark may consist — Letters and numbers — Condition — Distinctive character (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 4 and 7(1)(b)) (see paras 30, 40) 5. EU trade mark — Surrender, revocation and invalidity — Absolute grounds for invalidity —Registration contrary to Article 7(1)(b) and (c) of Regulation No 207/2009 — Figurative mark hp (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(b) and (c) and 52(1)(a)) (see paras 34, 48) 6. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Assessment of distinctive character — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(b) and (3) and 52(1)(a)) (see paras 41-44) 7. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Finding of the lack of an unusual or striking feature of the sign insufficient to deny its distinctiveness (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(b) and 52(1)(a)) (see paras 45, 46) 8. EU trade mark — Surrender, revocation and invalidity — Absolute grounds for invalidity — Applicant in bad faith when lodging the trade mark application — Criteria for assessment — Taking into account of all relevant factors 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 — Origin and use of the sign in dispute — Commercial logic underlying the registration of the contested sign as an EU trade mark — Chronology of events characterising the filing of the trade mark application (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 52(1)(b)) (see paras 54-63) Re: Action brought against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 1 February 2017 (Case R 1001/2016-5) relating to invalidity proceedings between Senetic and HP Hewlett Packard Group. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Senetic S.A. to pay the costs.