Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2017:667
Date: 2017-09-26
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 26 September 2017 — Waldhausen v EUIPO (Representation of the silhouette of a horse’s head) (Case T‑717/16) (EU trade mark — Application for EU figurative mark representing the silhouette of a horse’s head — Absolute ground for refusal — No distinctive character — Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009) 1. 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)) (see paras 16-19, 41, 46) 2. 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 — Perception of the trade mark by the relevant public — Attention level of the public (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see paras 23, 24, 31) 3. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character –Figurative mark representing the silhouette of a horse’s head (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see paras 28-30, 32, 36, 37, 42, 43, 48-53) 4. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Application for registration of a sign for all the goods or services falling within the same category — Lack of distinctive character in relation only to certain products falling within that category not precluding recognition of lack of distinctiveness of the sign in relation to products in that category as a whole (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see para 35) 5. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Recognition of the distinctiveness of the sign not subject to a finding of a certain level of creativity or linguistic or artistic imagination (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see para 47) 6. EU trade mark — Decisions of the Office — Legality — Examination by the EU judicature — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see para 56) 7. EU trade mark — Decisions of the Office — Principle of equal treatment — Principle of sound administration — EUIPO’s previous decision-making practice (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see paras 58, 59) Re: ACTION brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 31 August 2016 (Case R 1195/2016-4), concerning an application for registration of a figurative sign representing the silhouette of a horse’s head as an EU trade mark. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Waldhausen GmbH & Co. KG to pay the costs.