Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2014:519
Date: 2014-06-13
Language of the case: Spanish
Court formation: Second Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded

Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 13 June 2014 — Grupo Flexi de León v OHIM (FLEXI) (Case T‑352/12) Community trade mark — Application for Community word mark FLEXI — Absolute grounds for refusal — Descriptive character — Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 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 — Word mark FLEXI (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 18-24, 30) 2. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Assessment of registrability by the Office — Production of evidence — Not required (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 26) 3. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — 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 para. 29) 4. Community trade mark — Decisions of the Office — Principle of equal treatment — Principle of legality — OHIM’s previous decision-making practice — Relevance (see paras 32, 33) 5. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Prior registration of the trade mark in certain Member States — Relevance (see para. 35) Re: ACTION brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of OHIM of 4 May 2012 (Case R 1335/2011-2) concerning an application for registration of the word sign FLEXI as a Community trade mark. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Grupo Flexi de León, SA de CV to pay the costs.