Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2020:130
Date: 2020-03-26
Language of the case: Italian
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Italy

Judgment of the General Court (Tenth Chamber) of 26 March 2020 – Tecnodidattica v EUIPO (Shape of bases for globes and lamps) (Case T‑752/18) (EU trade mark — Application for a three-dimensional EU trade mark — Shape of bases for globes and lamps — Absolute ground for refusal — Sign consisting exclusively of the shape of goods which is necessary to obtain a technical result — Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) — No decorative or imaginative elements playing an important or essential role) 1. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Signs which consist exclusively of the shape of goods which is necessary to obtain a technical result — Meaning — Interpretation in the light of the public interest underlying each of them (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(e)(ii)) (see paras 11, 12, 17) 2. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Signs which consist exclusively of the shape of goods which is necessary to obtain a technical result –Meaning — Presence of non-essential characteristics with no technical function — Not relevant to the ground for refusal (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(e)(ii)) (see paras 13, 39) 3. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Signs which consist exclusively of the shape of goods which is necessary to obtain a technical result — Meaning — Existence of other shapes allowing the same technical result to be obtained — Not relevant to the ground for refusal (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(e)(ii)) (see paras 14, 26, 31-33) 4. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Signs which consist exclusively of the shape of goods which is necessary to obtain a technical result — Identification of the essential characteristics of a sign (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(e)(ii)) (see paras 15, 16) 5. EU trade mark — Surrender, revocation and invalidity — Absolute grounds for invalidity — Registration contrary to Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation No 207/2009 — Three-dimensional mark consisting of the shape of bases for globes and lamps (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7,(1)(e)(ii)) (see paras 23, 24, 27, 41-43, 45) 6. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Signs which consist exclusively of the shape of goods which is necessary to obtain a technical result — Slavish copies of the product shape — Examination in the light of the rules relating to unfair competition (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(e)(ii)) (see para. 44) Re: Action brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 9 October 2018 (Case R 76/2017-2), concerning an application for registration of a three-dimensional sign consisting of the shape of bases for globes and lamps as an EU trade mark. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Tecnodidattica SpA to pay the costs.