Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2021:314
Date: 2021-06-02
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 2 June 2021 – Schneider v EUIPO – Raths (Teslaplatte) (Case T‑183/20) (EU trade mark – Invalidity proceedings – EU word mark Teslaplatte – Absolute ground for refusal – Descriptive character – Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001)) 1. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service – Concept (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 17, 18) 2. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service – Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 19, 40) 3. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Relevant date for the examination of an application for a declaration of invalidity – Date on which the application for registration of the contested mark was filed (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(c) and 52(1)(a)) (see para. 20) 4. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service – Word mark Teslaplatte (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 29, 39, 41, 42, 45, 49) 5. Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Assessment of the registrability of a sign – EU rules only taken into account – Earlier registration of the mark in certain Member States or third countries – Decisions not binding EU bodies (Council Regulation 207/2009) (see para. 51) Re: Action brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 15 January 2020 (Case R 247/2019-2), relating to invalidity proceedings between Mr Raths and Mr Schneider. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Mr Christian Schneider to pay the costs.