Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2018:144
Date: 2018-03-15
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - successful

Judgment of the General Court of 15 March 2018 — Marriott Worldwide v EUIPO — Graf (Representation of a winged bull) (Case T-151/17) 1 (EU trade mark — Invalidity proceedings — EU figurative mark representing a winged bull — Earlier EU and national figurative marks representing a griffin — Relative ground for refusal — Similarity of the signs — Article 53(1)(a) and Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 60(1)(a) and Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) — Earlier copyright protected by national law — Article 53(2)(c) of Regulation No 207/2009 (now Article 60(2)(c) of Regulation 2017/1001) — Examination of the facts of the Office’s own motion — Article 76(1) of Regulation No 207/2009 (now Article 95(1) of Regulation 2017/1001)) Language of the case: English Parties Applicant: Marriott Worldwide Corp. (Bethesda, Maryland, United States) (represented by: A. Reid, Solicitor) Defendant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (represented by: J. Crespo Carrillo, acting as Agent) Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervener before the General Court: Johann Graf (Gumpoldskirchen, Austria) (represented by: S. Salomonowitz, lawyer) Re: Action brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 17 January 2017 (Case R 165/2016-4), relating to invalidity proceedings between Marriott Worldwide and Mr Graf. Operative part of the judgment The Court: Annuls the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 17 January 2017 (Case R 165/2016-4); Orders EUIPO to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by Marriott Worldwide Corp.; Orders Mr Johann Graf to bear his own costs. ____________ 1 OJ C 129, 24.4.2017.