Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2017:749
Date: 2017-10-23
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Second Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 23 October 2017 — Barmenia Krankenversicherung v EUIPO (Mediline) (Case T‑810/16) (EU trade mark — Application for registration of the EU word mark Mediline — 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) — Article 7(2) of Regulation No 207/2009 (now Article 7(2) of Regulation 2017/1001)) 1. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU 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 paras 17, 18) 2. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Word mark Mediline (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 19-31) 3. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Trade mark made up of several elements — Possible for the competent authority to examine each of the elements making up the trade mark — Need to take account of the overall perception of the combination by the relevant public (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see paras 22-24) 4. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Assessment of distinctive character — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b) and (c)) (see para. 31) 5. EU trade mark — Decisions of the Office — Principle of equal treatment — Principle of sound administration — EUIPO’s previous decision-making practice — Principle of legality — Need for a strict and complete examination in each particular case (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see paras 33-35) 6. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Assessment of the registrability of a sign — EU rules only taken into account — Decisions of national authorities not binding EU bodies (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see para. 37) Re: ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 08 September 2016 (Case R 2437/2015-1) concerning an application for registration of the figurative sign Mediline as an EU trade mark. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Barmenia Krankenversicherung AG to pay the costs.