Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2023:515
Date: 2023-09-06
Language of the case: Polish
Court formation: Seventh Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - successful

Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 6 September 2023 – QC and Others v EUIPO – Wyrębski (BLUE BRAND CHICKEN) (Case T‑316/22) (1) (EU trade mark – Invalidity proceedings – Three-dimensional EU trade mark BLUE BRAND CHICKEN – Shape of a white and blue rectangular box – Absolute ground for invalidity – Bad faith – Article 52(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 59(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001)) 1. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Applicant in bad faith when filing the trade mark application – Concept of bad faith – Scope (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 52(1)(b)) (see paragraphs 20, 22, 23) 2. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Applicant in bad faith when filing the trade mark application – Criteria for assessment – Taking into account all relevant factors at the time of filing of the application for registration – Intention of the applicant (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 52(1)(b)) (see paragraph 24) 3. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Applicant in bad faith when filing the trade mark application – Burden of proof (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 52(1)(b)) (see paragraph 25) 4. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Applicant in bad faith when filing the trade mark application – Three-dimensional trade mark BLUE BRAND CHICKEN (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 52(1)(b)) (see paragraphs 31-38) Operative part The Court: 1. Annuls the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 24 March 2022 (Case R 1166/2020‑2); 2. Orders EUIPO to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by QC, QD and QE during the proceedings before the General Court; 3. Orders Mr Grzegorz Wyrębski to bear his own costs. 1 OJ C 284, 25.7.2022.