Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2019:495
Date: 2019-07-11
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Pleas in law not set out in the application — Reference to elements in an annex — Inadmissibility (Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 21 and 53, 1st para.; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Arts 76(d), 171 and 177(1)) (see para. 11) 2. EU trade mark — Appeals procedure — Action before the EU judicature — Jurisdiction of the General Court — Re-evaluation of the facts in the light of evidence produced for the first time before it –Precluded (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 72) (see para. 13) 3. 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 — Mark composed of a word or neologism resulting from a combination of elements (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 2017/1001, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 22-29) 4. 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 — Assessment of the descriptive nature of a sign — Criteria (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 2017/1001, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 30) 5. 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 — Figurative mark TurboPerformance (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 40-45, 47, 58, 59, 62) 6. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Examination of the grounds for refusal having regard to each of the products or services covered by the application for registration — Obligation to state the reasons for refusing to register — Scope (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Arts 7(1) and 94, first sentence) (see paras 50-57) 7. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Refusal of registration based on one of the absolute grounds for refusal set out in Article 7(1) of Regulation 2017/1001 — Whether sufficient (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 7(1)) (see para. 66) Re: Action brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 5 April 2018 (Case R 2206/2017-4) concerning an application for registration of the figurative sign TurboPerformance as an EU trade mark. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Mr Andreas Hauzenberger to pay the costs.