Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 11 April 2014 — Olive Line International v OHIM (OLIVE LINE)
(Case T‑209/13)
Community trade mark — Application for registration of the Community figurative mark OLIVE LINE — Absolute ground for refusal — Lack of distinctive character — Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009
1.                     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 18-20, 30)
2.                     Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Figurative mark consisting of the two-dimensional representation of a product — Distinctive character — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see paras 21-23)
3.                     Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Figurative mark OLIVE LINE consisting of a two-dimensional representation of a bottle (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see paras 27, 43, 44, 52)
4.                     Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Assessment of the registrability of a sign — EU rules only taken into account — Earlier registration of the mark in certain Member States or third countries — Decisions not binding EU bodies (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see para. 49)
Re:
ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 31 January 2013 (Case R 1447/2012-1) concerning an application for registration of the figurative sign OLIVE LINE as a Community trade mark.
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders Olive Line International, SL to pay the costs.