Judgment of the General Court (Single Judge) of 28 September 2016

EU trade markDefinition and acquisition of the EU 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 paras 20, 21)

EU trade markDefinition and acquisition of the EU 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. 22)

EU trade markDefinition and acquisition of the EU trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalMarks composed exclusively of signs or indications capable of designating the characteristics of a product or serviceWord marks WAVE 2 PAY and WAVE TO PAY (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(c)) (see paras 23, 25-27, 34)

EU trade markDecisions of the OfficePrinciple of equal treatmentPrinciple of sound administrationEUIPO’s previous decision-making practice (see paras 32, 33)

EU 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 para. 40)

EU trade markDefinition and acquisition of the EU 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 75, first sentence) (see para. 41)

Re:

ACTION brought against two decisions of the Fifth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 19 January 2015 (Cases, respectively, R 1857/2014-5 and R 1864/2014-5), concerning two applications for registration of the word signs, respectively, WAVE 2 PAY and WAVE TO PAY as EU trade marks.

Operative part

The Court:

Dismisses the actions;

Orders Intesa Sanpaolo SpA to pay the costs.