Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2013:14
Date: 2013-01-15
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Summary — Judgment of the General Court (Fourth Chamber), 15 January 2013 1. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goods — Aim — Need to preserve availability (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) 2. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goods — Concept (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) 3. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goods — Word mark ecoDoor (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) 4. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goods — Concept — Sign that is descriptive of a characteristic of a component incorporated in a product — Included (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) 1. See the text of the decision. (see para. 14) 2. See the text of the decision. (see paras 15, 16) 3. For the purposes of Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation No 207/2009 on the Community trade mark, and from the point of view of English-speaking consumers, the word mark ecoDoor is descriptive of the goods covered by the Community trade mark application, for which registration is sought in respect of ‘Electrical household and kitchen machines and apparatus (included in class seven), appliances and devices for making beverages and/or food, pumps for dispensing chilled beverages for use in combination with devices for chilling beverages; dishwashers; electric machines and devices for cleaning laundry and clothing (included in class seven), including washing machines, spin dryers’, ‘Electric automatic dispensing machines for beverages or foodstuffs, automatic vending machines’ and ‘Apparatus for heating, steam generating and cooking, in particular stoves, baking, roasting, grilling, toasting, defrosting and heating devices, water heaters, immersion heaters, refrigerating apparatus, in particular refrigerators, chest freezers, refrigerated cabinets, beverage-cooling apparatus, fridge-freezers, ice-machines and apparatus, sorbet makers and appliances for making ice-cream, drying apparatus, in particular including tumble dryers, laundry drying machines’ within Classes 7, 9 and 11 respectively of the Nice Agreement. As the element ‘eco’ will be perceived to mean ‘ecological’, and the element ‘door’ has its normal meaning, the term ‘ecodoor’ would be understood immediately by the relevant public to mean ‘a door the construction and mode of operation of which are ecological’. As the goods listed may contain doors, the mark applied for may describe the ecological qualities of the door which the product in question is equipped with. Similarly, as regards the goods in question, the ecological qualities of the door are important for the ecological character of the product in which it is installed. Consumers are increasingly mindful of the ecological quality of goods, including their energy consumption, and of environmentally friendly manufacturing processes. This is particularly true in relation to the goods in question, especially since they consume energy. Consequently, the ecological character is an essential characteristic of these same products. Thus, in the perception of the relevant public, the mark applied for is descriptive of an essential characteristic of the goods in question, namely their ecological character, in that it describes the ecological qualities of the door which they are equipped with. (see paras 18, 24, 28-31) 4. A sign that is descriptive of a characteristic of a component incorporated in a product can also be descriptive of the product itself. That is the case where, from the perception of the relevant public, the characteristic of the component described by the sign could have a significant impact on the essential characteristics of the product itself. In this case, the relevant public will, immediately and without further thought, take the characteristic of the component described by the sign to mean the essential characteristics of the product in question. (see para. 26)