Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 14 June 2017 —  
LG Electronics v EUIPO (Second Display)

(Case T‑659/16)

(EU trade mark — Application for the EU word mark Second Display — Absolute grounds for refusal — Descriptiveness — No distinctive character — Article 7(1)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009)

| 1. | EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU 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 paras 16, 21) |

| 2. | EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Concept — Neologism consisting of elements descriptive of characteristics of the goods or services concerned  (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c))  (see paras 17-20) |

| 3. | EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU 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 Second Display  (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c))  (see paras 22, 25-30, 33) |

| 4. | EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or service — Existence of other more usual signs or indications to designate the same characteristics — Number of competitors capable of having an interest in using the same signs or indications — Irrelevant  (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c))  (see para. 31) |

| 5. | EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Assessment of the registrability of a sign — EU rules only taken into account  (Council Regulation No 207/2009)  (see para. 32) |

| 6. | EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Descriptive character of a sign — Circumstance necessarily implying absence of distinctive character of the sign  (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b) and (c))  (see para. 38) |

| 7. | EU 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. 43) |

| 8. | EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Examination of the grounds for refusal having regard to each of the products or services covered by the application for registration — Obligation to state the reasons for refusing to register — Scope  (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1), and 75, first sentence)  (see para. 44) |

Re:

ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of EUIPO dated 10 June 2016 (Case R 106/2016-1) concerning an application for registration of the word sign Second Display as an EU trade mark.

Operative part

The Court:

| 1. | Dismisses the action; |

| 2. | Orders LG Electronics, Inc. to pay the costs. |

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