Judgment;Information — ECLI:EU:T:2021:702
Date: 2021-10-13
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Single Judge
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Judgment of the General Court (Single Judge) of 13 October 2021 – Schneider v EUIPO – Frutaria Comercial de Frutas y Hortalizas (Frutaria) (Case T‑12/20) (EU trade mark – Revocation proceedings – EU figurative trade mark Frutaria – Genuine use of the trade mark – Article 51(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 58(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) – Proof of genuine use – Nature of use) 1. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Causes of revocation – Absence of genuine use of a trade mark – Proof of use – Genuine use – Concept – Criteria for assessment – Company name, commercial name or trade name (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 51(1)(a)) (see paras 41, 42) 2. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Causes of revocation – Absence of genuine use of a trade mark – Use of the mark in a form differing by elements not altering the distinctive character of the mark – Subject matter and scope of Article 15(1)(a) of Regulation No 207/2009 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 15(1)(a)) (see paras 58, 59) 3. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Causes of revocation – Absence of genuine use of a trade mark – Use of the mark in a form differing by elements not altering the distinctive character of the mark – Word mark Frutaria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 15(1)(a) and 51(1)(a)) (see paras 63-69) 4. EU trade mark – Observations of third parties and opposition – Examination of the opposition – Proof of use of the mark – Partial use – Effect – Concept of ‘part of goods or services’ concerned by registration (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 51(2)) (see paras 77-80) 5. EU trade mark – Observations of third parties and opposition – Examination of the opposition – Proof of use of the mark – Genuine use – Concept – Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 51(1)(a)) (see paras 91, 92) 6. EU trade mark – Observations of third parties and opposition – Examination of the opposition – Proof of use of the mark – Genuine use – Criteria for assessment – Requirement of solid and objective evidence (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 51(1)(a)) (see para. 94) Re: Action brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 8 October 2019 (Case R 284/2019-1), relating to revocation proceedings between M. Schneider and Frutaria Comercial de Frutas y Hortalizas. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Markus Schneider to pay the costs.