Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2016:214
Date: 2016-04-12
Language of the case: Polish
Court formation: Second Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Poland

Provisional text Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 12 April 2016 — Choice v EUIPO (Choice chocolate & ice cream) (Case T‑361/15) EU trade mark — Application for the European Union figurative mark Choice chocolate & ice cream — Absolute ground for refusal — Descriptive Character — Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 1. 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 — Aim — Need to preserve availability (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 13) 2. 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 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 14, 15) 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 — Assessment of the descriptive nature of a sign — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 16, 25, 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 — Figurative mark Choice chocolate & ice cream (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 18, 22, 26, 28, 30) 5. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Refusal to register based on one of the absolute grounds for refusal set out in Article 7(1) of Regulation No 207/2009 — Whether sufficient (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)) (see para. 33) Re: ACTION brought against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 30 April 2015 (Case R 2221/2014-5), concerning an application for registration of the figurative sign Choice chocolate & ice cream as a European Union trade mark. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Choice sp. z o.o. to pay the costs.