Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2024:349
Date: 2024-06-05
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Third Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Finland

Judgment of the General Court of 5 June 2024 – Insights v EUIPO – Geert Hofstede (HOFSTEDE INSIGHTS) (Case T-429/23) 1 (EU trade mark – Opposition proceedings – Application for the EU word mark hofstede insights – Earlier national word mark and earlier national trade name HOFSTEDE INSIGHTS – Earlier national trade name and earlier national company name Hofstede Insights – Earlier national trade name and earlier national company name Hofstede Insights Group – Domain name ‘hofstede-insights.com’ – Domain name ‘hofstede-insights.net’ – Relative ground for refusal – Article 8(4) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 – Grounds included for the sake of completeness – Plea in law ineffective) Language of the case: English Parties Applicant: Hofstede Insights Oy (Helsinki, Finland) (represented by: A. Sevillano Orbegozo, lawyer) Defendant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (represented by: D. Stoyanova-Valchanova, acting as Agent) Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervener before the General Court: Geert Hofstede BV (Velp, Netherlands) (represented by: L. van der Veer, lawyer) Re: By its action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicant seeks annulment of the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 28 April 2023 (Case R 2128/2022-5). Operative part of the judgment The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Hofstede Insights Oy to bear its own costs and pay those incurred by Geert Hofstede BV; 3. Orders the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to bear its own costs. ____________ 1 OJ C 321, 11.9.2023.