Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2022:458
Date: 2022-07-13
Language of the case: English
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - successful

Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 13 July 2022 – Standard International Management v EUIPO – Asia Standard Management Services (The Standard) (Case T‑768/20) (1) (EU trade mark – Revocation proceedings – EU figurative mark The Standard – Declaration of revocation – Place of the use of the mark – Advertisements and offers for sale to consumers in the EU – Article 58(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) 1. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Causes of revocation – Absence of genuine use of a trade mark – Proof of use – Genuine use – Meaning – Criteria for assessment – Territorial extent of the use (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Arts 18(1) and 58(1)(a)) (see paras 31, 32) 2. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Causes of revocation – Absence of genuine use of a trade mark – Figurative mark The Standard (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Arts 18(1) and 58(1)(a)) (see paras 34, 36-39, 42, 43) 3. EU trade mark – Appeals procedure – Action before the EU judicature – Jurisdiction of the General Court – Review of the lawfulness of decisions of the Boards of Appeal – Scope – Limits (Art. 263 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 72(3)) (see para. 51) 4. Judicial proceedings – Costs – Litigation concerning intellectual property rights – Recoverable costs – Costs necessarily incurred by the parties for the purposes of the proceedings before the Board of Appeal (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 190(2)) (see para. 57) Operative part The Court: 1. Annuls the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 27 November 2020 (Case R 828/2020-5) as regards the services in Classes 38, 39, 41, 43 and 44; 2. Orders EUIPO to bear, in addition to its own costs, those incurred by Standard International Management LLC, including those incurred for the purposes of the proceedings before the Board of Appeal. 1 OJ C 62, 22.2.2021.