Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 25 September 2015 —
Grundig Multimedia v OHIM (DetergentOptimiser)
(Case T‑707/14)
Community trade mark — Application for the Community word mark DetergentOptimiser — Absolute ground for refusal — Descriptive character — Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Equal treatment
1.                     Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community 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. 12)
2.                     Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community 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 para. 13)
3.                     Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Word mark DetergentOptimiser (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 16, 23)
4.                     Community trade mark — Decisions of the Office — Principle of equal treatment — Principle of sound administration — OHIM’s previous decision-making practice (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see paras 29-31)
Re:
ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 9 July 2014 (Case R 172/2014-1), relating to an application for the word mark DetergentOptimiser as a Community trade mark.
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders Grundig Multimedia AG to pay the costs.