Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 23 September 2015

Data

Court: General Court

Case date: 23 september 2015

Verdict

Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 23 September 2015 —

Reed Exhibitions v OHIM (INFOSECURITY)

(Case T‑633/13)

"Community trade mark - Application for Community word mark INFOSECURITY - Absolute ground for refusal - Descriptive character - No distinctive character - No distinctive character acquired through use - Article 7(1)(b) and (c) and Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 - Obligation to state reasons"

1. Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalMarks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goodsConcept (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 21-23)

2. Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalMarks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goodsAssessment of the descriptive nature of a signCriteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 24)

3. Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalMarks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goodsConceptNeologism consisting of elements descriptive of characteristics of the goods or services concernedWhether included where the nature of the combination is not unusual (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 25, 36)

4. Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalMarks composed exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of goodsWord mark INFOSECURITY (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 37, 41, 49-51)

5. Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalSeparate examination of the grounds for refusal in relation to each of the goods or services covered by the application for registrationObligation to state the reasons for refusing to registerScope (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 7(1), and 73) (see paras 45, 46)

6. Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalMarks devoid of any distinctive characterExceptionDistinctive character acquired through useCriteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(3)) (see paras 67-71, 94)

Re:

ACTION brought against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of OHIM of 10 September 2013 (Case R 1544/2012-5) concerning an application for registration of the word sign INFOSECURITY as a Community trade mark.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders Reed Exhibitions Ltd to pay the costs.