Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 14 June 2017.LG Electronics, Inc. v European Union Intellectual Property Office.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.Case T-659/16.

Judgment // 14/06/2017 // 3 min read
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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)

  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 — 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)

  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 — Word mark Second Display

(Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c))

(see paras 22, 25-30, 33)

  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 — 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)

  1. 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)

  1. 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)

  1. 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)

  1. 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.

Trade marks