Judgment_paragraph 29 · BioID AG, en liquidation v European Union Intellectual Property Office (C-37/03 P)

29Thirdly, as regards a compound mark, such as that which forms the subject-matter of the present dispute, any distinctive character may be assessed, in part, in respect of each of the terms or elements, taken separately, but that assessment must, in any event, be based on the overall perception of that trade mark by the relevant public and not on the presumption that elements individually devoid of distinctive character cannot, on being combined, present such character (see SAT.1 v OHIM, cited above, paragraph 35). The mere fact that each of those elements, considered separately, is devoid of distinctive character does not mean that their combination cannot present such character (see, by way of analogy, Case C-363/99 Koninklijke KPN Nederland [2004] ECR I-1619, paragraphs 99 and 100, Case C-265/00 Campina Melkunie [2004] ECR I-1699, paragraphs 40 and 41, as well as SAT.1 v OHIM, cited above, paragraph 28).