Case T-168/06: Action brought on 19 June 2006 — Italian Republic v Commission
Date: 2006-08-12
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, Italy, action for annulment (EU), advance payment, aid system, operational programme, structural expenditure

C 190/28

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

12.8.2006

Trade mark right of applicant for the declaration: right to the use of
his own name.

Decision of the Cancellation Division: application for declaration
of invalidity granted.

Decision of the Board of Appeal: appeal granted and application
for declaration of invalidity rejected.

Pleas in law: Infringement of Articles 52(2)(a), 12(a) and 50(1)(c)
of Regulation (EC) No 40/94 on the Community trade mark in
the light of, respectively, Articles 8(3), 21(1)(a), and 26(1)(b) of
the Italian Industrial Property Code.

Action brought on 28 June 2006 — PowderJect
Research v OHIM (POWDERMED)

(Case T-166/06)

(2006/C 190/51)

Language of the case: English

Parties

past tense of a verb by reason of its closing letters ‘…ed’ and
that it would not be immediately apparent to the relevant
public that the trade mark could be dissected into ‘powder’ and
‘med’.

Action brought on 19 June 2006 — Italian Republic v
Commission

(Case T-168/06)

(2006/C 190/52)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicant: Italian Republic (represented by: Paolo Gentili, Avvo-
cato dello Stato)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Applicant: PowderJect Research Ltd (Oxford, United Kingdom)
(represented by: A. Bryson, Barrister, P. Brownlow, Solicitor)

Form of order sought

Defendant: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
(Trade Marks and Designs)

Form of order sought

— Annul the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the
Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
(Trade
Marks and Designs) of 12 April 2006, relating to the appli-
cant's Community trade mark application No 4202743 for
POWERMED in classes 5, 10 and 42;

— award costs in favour of the applicant.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Community trade mark concerned: The word mark ‘POWDERMED’
for goods and services in classes 5, 10 and 42 — application
No 4 202 743

Decision of the examiner: Refusal of the application

Decision of the Board of Appeal: Dismissal of the appeal

Pleas in law: Infringement of Article 7(1)(b) and (c) of Council
Regulation No 40/94. The Board of Appeal erred in treating
the trade mark as being composed of two English words in
common usage and it gave no or insufficient consideration to
the structure of the trade mark applied for by not taking into
account that the trade mark would at first sight suggest the

— annul Memorandum No 03232 of 7 April 2006 of the
European Commission, Directorate-General
for Regional
Policy — Programmes and projects in Cyprus, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Malta and the Netherlands — concerning
payments made by the Commission which differ from the
amount requested. Ref. Programme SPD Lombardia (No
CCI 2000 IT 16 2 DO 014);

— annul Memorandum No 03903 of 5 May 2006 of the Euro-
pean Commission, Directorate-General for Regional Policy
— Programmes and projects in Cyprus, Greece, Hungary,
Italy, Malta and the Netherlands — concerning payments
made by the Commission which differ from the amount
requested. Ref SPD Ob. 2 Lazio 2000-2006 (No CCI 2000
IT 16 2 DO 009);

— annul Memorandum No 04240 of 18 May 2006 of the
European Commission, Directorate-General
for Regional
Policy — Programmes and projects in Cyprus, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Malta and the Netherlands — concerning
payments made by the Commission which differ from the
amount requested. Ref. Programme SPD Lombardia (No
CCI 2000 IT 16 2 DO 014),

— annul Memorandum No 04241 of 18 May 2006 of the
European Commission, Directorate-General
for Regional
Policy — Programmes and projects in Cyprus, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Malta and the Netherlands — concerning
certification and declaration of intermediate expenses and
requests for payment. Ref. SPD Veneto Ob. 2 2000-2006
(No CCI 2000 IT 16 2 DO 005);

12.8.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 190/29

— annul Memorandum No 04468 of 29 May 2006 of the
European Commission, Directorate-General
for Regional
Policy — Programmes and projects in Cyprus, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Malta and the Netherlands — concerning
payments made by the Commission which differ from the
amount requested. Ref. Programme PEP Sardegna 2000-
2006 (No CCI 1999 IT 16 1 PO 010);

— annul all related and prior measures and, consequently,
order the Commission of the European Communities to
pay the costs.

Applicant for the declaration of invalidity: Juan Gallardo Blanco.

Trade mark right of applicant for the declaration: Spanish figurative
(letter written in bold type, slightly
mark No 198 648 ‘H’
inclined, with a curve in the horizontal stroke and crossed by a
trail in the colours sky blue and deep red), for goods in Class
31 (‘livestock breeding of all kinds, except horses’).

Decision of the Cancellation Division: Declaration of nullity of the
Community trade mark in its entirety.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The pleas in law and main arguments are similar to those relied
on in Case T-345/04 Italian Republic v Commission. (1)

Decision of the Board of Appeal: Dismissal of the appeal.

Pleas in law: Infringement of Articles 40(2) and 74(2) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 40/94 on the Community trade mark.

(1) OJ C 262, 23.10.2004, p. 55.

Action brought on 27 June 2006 — Inalca and Cremonini
v Commission

Action brought on 23 June 2006 — Expasa v OHIM —
Juan Gallardo Blanco (figurative mark ‘H’)

(Case T-172/06)

(2006/C 190/53)

Language in which the application was lodged: Spanish

Parties

(Case T-174/06)

(2006/C 190/54)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicant: Expasa, Agricultura y Ganadería, S.A. (Madrid, Spain)
(represented by: J.C. Valle Valiente)

Defendant: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
(Trade Marks and Designs)

Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of OHIM:
Juan Gallardo Blanco

Form of order sought

— Grant the application;

— Order OHIM to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Registered Community trade mark in respect of which a declaration of
invalidity has been sought: Figurative mark ‘H’ (letter written in
bold type and with a curve in the horizontal stroke) (appli-
cation for registration No 1 255 751, for goods in Class 31).

Proprietor of the Community trade mark: The applicant.

Applicants: Inalca and Cremonini (Modena, Italy) (represented
by: Francesco Sciaudone, lawyer)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Form of order sought

— Declare that the Commission is liable for non-contractual

damages;

— declare that the applicants have suffered damage, assessed

at EUR 2 861 000;

— order the Commission to make good such damage together
with compensatory interest and interest on any arrears;

— order the defendant to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The present action seeks compensation for
loss allegedly
suffered by the applicant companies as a result of the adoption
of the letter of 6 July 1998 in which UCLAF communicated to
the Italian authorities the findings — which the applicants
consider wholly inaccurate — of its investigation into alleged
irregularities in the export, with refunds, of beef and veal to
Jordan and made allegations which also had criminal-law impli-
cations against both companies and their directors.