Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2025:745
Date: 2025-07-23
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Second Chamber
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: United Kingdom

Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 23 July 2025 – Glaxo Group v EUIPO – Cipla Europe (Shape of an inhaler) (Case T‑432/24) ( EU trade mark – Invalidity proceedings – Three-dimensional EU trade mark – Shape of an inhaler – Absolute ground for invalidity – No distinctive character – Article 7(1)(b) and Article 51(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 40/94 – No distinctive character acquired through use – Article 7(3) and Article 51(2) of Regulation No 40/94 – Decision adopted following the annulment by the General Court of an earlier decision – Res judicata – Article 72(6) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 – Obligation to state reasons – Article 94(1) of Regulation 2017/1001 ) 1. EU trade mark – Procedural provisions – Statement of reasons for decisions – First sentence of Article 94(1) of Regulation 2017/1001 – Scope identical to that of Article 296 TFEU (Art. 296 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 94(1), first sentence) (see paragraph 28) 2. Action for annulment – Judgment annulling a measure – Effects – Obligation to adopt compliance measures – Scope – Both the operative part and the grounds of the judgment to be taken into account (Art. 266 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 72(6)) (see paragraphs 38, 39) 3. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Relevant date for the examination of an application for a declaration of invalidity – Date on which the application for registration of the contested mark was filed (Council Regulation No 40/94, Arts 7 and 51(1)) (see paragraph 54) 4. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Marks devoid of any distinctive character – Concept of distinctiveness (Council Regulation No 40/94, Arts 7(1)(b) and 51(1)(a)) (see paragraph 65) 5. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Marks devoid of any distinctive character – Three-dimensional trade marks consisting of the shape of the product itself – Distinctive character – Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 40/94, Arts 7(1)(b) and 51(1)(a)) (see paragraphs 66-68, 89-91) 6. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Marks devoid of any distinctive character – Three-dimensional trade mark consisting of the shape of an inhaler (Council Regulation No 40/94, Arts 7(1)(b) and 51(1)(a)) (see paragraphs 75, 92-94) 7. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Marks devoid of any distinctive character – Exception – Distinctive character acquired through use – Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 40/94, Arts 7(1)(b) and (3), and 51(2)) (see paragraph 100) Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Glaxo Group Ltd to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by Cipla Europe NV; 3. Orders the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to bear its own costs.