Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2021:229
Date: 2021-04-28
Language of the case: French
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded;Action for annulment - successful

Judgment of the General Court (Tenth Chamber) of 28 April 2021 – Repower v EUIPO – repowermap.org (REPOWER) (Case T‑842/16) (EU trade mark – Invalidity proceedings – International registration designating the European Union – Word mark REPOWER – Absolute ground for invalidity – Descriptive character – Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) – Obligation to state reasons – Article 75 of Regulation No 207/2009 (now Article 94 of Regulation 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 – Definition (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(c), and 52(1)(a)) (see paras 26, 28-40, 44, 45) 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 – Aim – Need to preserve availability (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1)(c), and 52(1)(a)) (see para. 27) 3. 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 REPOWER (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 68-70) Re: Action brought against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 26 September 2016 (Case R 2311/2014-5) relating to invalidity proceedings between repowermap.org and Repower. Operative part The Court: 1. Annuls the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 26 September 2016 (Case R 2311/2014-5) in so far as the application for a declaration of invalidity has been upheld in respect of voice tubes in Class 9; 2. Dismisses the action for the remainder; 3. Orders Repower AG to bear, in addition to its own costs, those incurred by EUIPO and repowermap.org.