Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 1 March 2016

Community trade markAppeals procedureAction before the EU judicatureJurisdiction of the General CourtReview of the lawfulness of decisions of the Boards of AppealAccount taken by the General Court of matters of law and fact which have not been raised previously before the departments of OHIMNot included (Rules of Procedure of the General Court (1991), Art. 135(4); Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 65(2)) (see para. 11)

Community trade markProcedural provisionsExamination of the facts of the Office’s own motionScopeNo obligation to prove matters within common knowledgeDispute before the General CourtSubmission of documents to demonstrate the accuracy of a well-known fact (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 76(1)) (see para. 14)

Community trade markProcedural provisionsStatement of reasons for decisionsArticle 75, first sentence, of Regulation No 207/2009Scope identical to that of Article 296 TFEU (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 75, first sentence) (see paras 21, 22)

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 goodsAimNeed to preserve availability (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 33)

Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalMarks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or serviceConcept (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 34)

Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalMarks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or serviceAssessment of the descriptive nature of a signCriteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see para. 35)

Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalMarks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or serviceWord mark Multiprop (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 36, 44, 45, 54)

Actions for annulmentSubject-matterDecision based on several pillars of reasoning, each sufficient to justify the operative partDecision on the acquisition of the Community trade markPleas relating to an error or other illegality affecting only one of the pillars of reasoningAction not founded (Art. 263 TFEU; Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7) (see para. 42)

Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markAssessment of the registrability of a signAccount to be taken only of Community legislationEarlier registration of the mark in certain Member States or third countriesDecisions not binding Community bodies (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see para. 46)

Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalOverlap between the scope of the grounds for refusal set out in subparagraphs (b) and (c) of Article 7(1) of Regulation No 207/2009 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b) and (c)) (see paras 52, 53)

Re:

ACTION for annulment of the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 29 April 2014 (Case R 1661/2013-1), concerning an application for registration of the word sign Multiprop as a Community trade mark.

Operative part

The Court:

Dismisses the action;

Orders Peri GmbH to pay the costs.