Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 18 May 2017

EU trade markProcedural provisionsExamination of the facts of the Office’s own motionDuty of diligence

(Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 76(1))

(see paras 18, 19)

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. 28)

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 paras 29, 30)

EU trade markDefinition and acquisition of the EU trade markAbsolute grounds for refusalMarks devoid of any distinctive characterWord mark secret.service.

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

(see paras 47, 48, 81, 85)

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 serviceAimNeed to preserve availability

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

(see para. 54)

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 55-57, 64, 72, 75)

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 serviceConceptMark composed of a word or neologism resulting from a combination of elements

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

(see para. 62)

EU trade markDecisions of the OfficeLegalityExamination by the EU judicatureCriteria

(Council Regulation No 207/2009)

(see para. 78)

EU trade markDecisions of the OfficePrinciple of equal treatmentPrinciple of sound administrationEUIPO’s previous decision-making practice

(Council Regulation No 207/2009)

(see paras 79, 80)

Re:

ACTION brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 8 February 2016 (Case R 1820/2015-4) concerning an application for registration of the word sign secret.service. as an EU trade mark.

Operative part

The Court:

Dismisses the action;

Orders Reisswolf Akten- und Datenvernichtung GmbH & Co. KG to pay the costs.