Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 12 March 2014 — American Express Marketing & Development v OHIM (IP ZONE and Others)
(Joined Cases T‑102/11 and T‑369/12 to T‑371/12)
Community trade mark — Applications for Community word marks IP ZONE, EUROPE IP ZONE, IP ZONE EUROPE and EUROPEAN IP ZONE — Absolute ground for refusal — Descriptive character — Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009
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. 15)
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 paras 16, 17)
3.                     Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Assessment of distinctive character — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see para. 18)
4.                     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 marks IP ZONE, EUROPE IP ZONE, IP ZONE EUROPE and EUROPEAN IP ZONE (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 24, 26-36)
Re:
ACTIONS brought against the decisions of the Second Board of Appeal of OHIM of 1 December 2010 (Case R 1125/2010-2) and 12 June 2012 (Cases R 1451/2011-2, R 1452/2011-2 and R 1453/2011-2) concerning applications for registration of the sign IP ZONE and of the signs EUROPE IP ZONE, IP ZONE EUROPE and EUROPEAN IP ZONE, respectively, as Community trade marks.
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the actions;
2.
Orders American Express Marketing & Development Corp. to pay the costs.