Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2000:4
Date: 2000-01-12
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Concepts: Signs of which a trade mark may consist;Word marks
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — 
Signs capable of constituting a trade mark — Condition — Distinctive character — 
Assessment in relation to the products and services in respect of which registration is 
sought 
(Council Regulation No 40/94, Art. 4) 
2. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — 
Absolute grounds for refusal — Signs devoid of any distinctive character — 'Company-
line' 
(Council Regulation No 40/94, Art. 7(1)(b)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE T-19/99 
1. It follows from Article 4 of Regulation 
No 40/94 on the Community trade 
mark, according to which the decisive 
factor for a sign capable of being 
represented graphically to be eligible 
for registration as a Community trade 
mark is its capacity to distinguish the 
goods of one undertaking from those of 
another, that the distinctive character 
of a sign whose registration is sought 
can be assessed only in relation to the 
goods or services in respect of which 
application for registration of the sign 
is made. 
(see paras 23-24) 
2. Under Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation 
No 40/94 on the Community trade 
mark, 'trade marks which are devoid 
of any distinctive character' are not to 
be registered. As regards the applica­
tion for registration of the word 'Com­
panyline' in respect of services relating 
to 'insurance and financial affairs', that 
sign cannot constitute a Community 
trade mark, since it is devoid of any 
distinctive character. 'Company' and 
'line' are two generic words which 
simply denote a line of goods or 
services for undertakings. Coupling 
them together without any graphic or 
semantic modification does not imbue 
them with any additional characteristic 
such as to render the sign, taken as a 
whole, capable of distinguishing the 
applicant's services from those of other 
undertakings. 
(see paras 26-27, 29) 
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