Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 25 September 2015 —
BSH v OHIM (PerfectRoast)
(Case T‑591/14)
Community mark — Application for Community word mark PerfectRoast — Refusal of registration — Absolute grounds for refusal — Descriptive character — Lack of distinctive character — Article 7(1)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Obligation to state reasons — Article 75 of Regulation 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 para. 16)
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 PerfectRoast (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 20-31)
4.                     Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Concept (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see para. 38)
5.                     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 paras 39, 40)
6.                     Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Marks constituted of advertising slogans — Distinctive character — Application of specific criteria for assessment — Inadmissibility (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see paras 41-44)
7.                     Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Word mark PerfectRoast (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see paras 46, 47)
8.                     Community trade mark — Procedural provisions — Statement of reasons for decisions — Article 75, first sentence, of Regulation No 207/2009 — Scope identical to that of Article 296 TFEU (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 75, first sentence) (see para. 50)
Re:
ACTION brought against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of OHIM of 16 June 2014 (Case R 359/2014-5), concerning an application for registration of the word sign PerfectRoast.
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Annuls the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) of 16 June 2014 (Case R 359/2014-5) in so far as it dismissed the appeal against the examiner’s decision to reject the application for registration of the Community trade mark PerfectRoast for ‘water heaters’, ‘immersion heaters’ and ‘egg-cookers’;
2.
Dismisses the remainder of the action;
3.
Orders each party to bear its own costs.