Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2016:447
Date: 2016-09-07
Language of the case: German
Court formation: First Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 7 September 2016 — Beiersdorf v EUIPO (Q10) (Case T‑4/15) EU trade mark — Application for EU figurative mark Q10 — Refusal to register a disclaimer as to the scope of the protection — Article 37(2) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Absolute grounds for refusal — Descriptive character — Lack of distinctive character — Article 7(1)(b) and (c) of Regulation No 207/2009 1. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Concept (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see para. 15) 2. EU trade mark — Registration procedure — Examination of the application — Mark containing an element devoid of distinctive character — Power of the Office to demand a statement relating to that element — Scope (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 37(2)) (see paras 16-18) 3. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Figurative mark Q10 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see paras 22-26, 36, 37) 4. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Refusal of registration based on one of the absolute grounds for refusal set out in Article 7(1) of Regulation No 207/2009 — Whether sufficient (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)) (see para. 38) Re: ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 8 October 2014 (Case R 2050/2013-1), relating to an application for registration of the figurative sign Q10 as an EU trademark. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Beiersdorf AG to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).