62020TJ0337_INF
Judgment of the General Court (Tenth Chamber) of 29 June 2022 –Hochmann Marketing v EUIPO (bittorrent)
(Case T‑337/20) (
1
)
(EU trade mark – Board of Appeal decision confirming the revocation of an earlier decision – Article 103(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 – Request for conversion into a national trade mark application – Ground precluding conversion – Non-use of the EU trade mark – Article 139(2)(a) of Regulation 2017/1001 – Right to be heard – Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights)
1.
Judicial proceedings – Examination of the substance before examination of admissibility – Whether permissible
(see para. 22)
2.
EU trade mark – Procedural provisions – Cancellation or revocation – Condition – Obvious error – Meaning
(European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Arts 102(1) and 103(1))
(see paras 32, 33)
3.
EU trade mark – Appeals procedure – Boards of Appeal – Classification of the Office as an administration – Right of the parties to a fair trial – None
(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001)
(see para. 55)
4.
Judicial proceedings – Res judicata – Scope
(see para. 68)
5.
EU trade mark – Procedural provisions – Decisions of the Office – Observance of the rights of the defence – Scope of the principle
(European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 94(1), second sentence)
(see para. 82)
6.
EU trade mark – Appeals procedure – Appeal brought against a decision of a unit of the Office ruling at first instance and referred to the Board of Appeal – Functional continuity between those two bodies – Examination of the appeal by the Board of Appeal – Scope
(European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 71(1))
(see para. 83)
7.
EU trade mark – Appeals procedure – Action before the EU judicature – Jurisdiction of the General Court – Review of the lawfulness of the decisions of the national courts – Precluded
(European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 72(3))
(see para. 109)
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders Hochmann Marketing GmbH to pay the costs.
(
1
)	OJ C 255, 3.8.2020.