Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2017:611
Date: 2017-09-15
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Second Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: United Kingdom

Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 15 September 2017 — Viridis Pharmaceutical v EUIPO — Hecht-Pharma (Boswelan) (Case T‑276/16) (EU trade mark — Revocation proceedings — EU word mark Boswelan — Declaration of revocation — Article 51(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Absence of genuine use of a trade mark — No proper reasons for non-use) 1. EU trade mark — Surrender, revocation and invalidity — Causes of revocation — Absence of genuine use of a trade mark — Proof of use of the earlier mark — Genuine use — Meaning — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 51(1)(a)) (see paras 30-33) 2. EU trade mark — Surrender, revocation and invalidity — Causes of revocation — Absence of genuine use of a trade mark — Word mark Boswelan 3. (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 51(1)(a)) (see paras 35, 36, 38-40, 59-61, 63) 4. EU trade mark — Surrender, revocation and invalidity — Causes of revocation — Absence of genuine use of a trade mark — Concept of ‘proper reasons’ for non-use — Independent and uniform interpretation — Obstacles bearing a direct relation to the trade mark rendering its use unreasonable or impossible and independent of the volition of the trade mark proprietor (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 51(1)(a)) (see paras 52, 54) 5. EU trade mark — Decisions of the Office — Legality — Examination by the EU judicature — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see paras 62) 6. EU law — Principles — Protection of legitimate expectations — Conditions — Specific assurances given by the authorities (see paras 67, 68) Re: ACTION against the decision of the Fifth Board of EUIPO of 29 February 2016 (Case R 2837/2014-5), relating to revocation proceedings between Hecht-Pharma and Viridis Pharmaceutical. : Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Viridis Pharmaceutical Ltd to pay the costs.