Judgment;Information — ECLI:EU:T:2020:44
Date: 2020-02-11
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Second Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 11 February 2020 – Stada Arzneimittel v EUIPO (ViruProtect) (Case T‑487/18) (EU trade mark — Application for EU word mark ViruProtect — Absolute ground for refusal — Descriptive character — Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) — Duty to state reasons) 1. EU trade mark — Procedural provisions — Statement of reasons for decisions (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see para. 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 — Aim — Need to preserve availability (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 16) 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 — Meaning (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 23) 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 — Meaning — Neologism consisting of elements descriptive of characteristics of the goods or services concerned — Whether included where the nature of the combination is not unusual (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 25) 5. 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 ViruProtect (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 39, 43, 47) Re: Action brought against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 4 June 2018 (Case R 1886/2017-5), relating to an application for registration of the word sign ViruProtect as an EU trade mark. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Stada Arzneimittel AG to pay the costs.