Judgment;Information — ECLI:EU:T:2022:270
Date: 2022-05-04
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - successful
Origin: Netherlands

Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 4 May 2022 – PricewaterhouseCoopers Belastingadviseurs v EUIPO – Haufe-Lexware (TAXMARC) (Case T‑619/21) (1) (EU trade mark – Opposition proceedings – Application for EU word mark TAXMARC – Prior EU figurative mark TAXMAN – Suspension of proceedings – Article 71(1) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/625) 1. EU trade mark – Appeals procedure – Appeals before the Boards of Appeal – Suspension of proceedings – Conditions (Commission Regulation 2018/625, Recital 17 and Art. 71(1)) (see paras 22-26) 2. EU trade mark – Appeals procedure – Appeals before the Boards of Appeal – Suspension of proceedings – Preliminary examination of the question of the suspension prior to any examination of the appeal (Commission Regulation 2018/625, Art. 71(1)) (see para. 27) 3. EU trade mark – Observations of third parties and opposition – Examination of the opposition – Suspension of proceedings – Action for suspension based on an action for invalidity brought against the previous trade mark – Dismissal of the application by reason of the introduction of the said action during opposition proceedings – Not permissible (Commission Regulation No 2868/95, Art. 1, Rule 20(7)(c)) (see para. 29) 4. EU trade mark – Appeals procedure – Appeals before the Boards of Appeal – Suspension of proceedings – Discretion of the Board of Appeal – Prima facie assessment of the likelihood of success of an application for a declaration of invalidity and of the bearing on the opposition (Commission Regulation 2018/625, Art. 71(1)) (see para. 32) Operative part The Court: 1. Annuls the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 21 July 2021 (Case R 131/2021-4); 2. Orders EUIPO to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by PricewaterhouseCoopers Belastingadviseurs NV for the purposes of the proceedings before the Court; 3. Orders Haufe-Lexware GmbH & Co. KG to bear its own costs relating to the proceedings before the Court. 1 OJ C 471, 22.11.2021.