Judgment_paragraph 49 · Paul Alfons Rehbein (GmbH & Co.) KG v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) (T-214/08)

49OHIM is in agreement with the arguments of the Board of Appeal outlined in paragraph 47 above. It suggests, however, that Rule 22(2) of Regulation No 2868/95 be interpreted as allowing the Boards of Appeal, regardless of the existence of ‘new factors’, to accept the evidence produced for the first time before them where that evidence is ‘purely complementary’, that is only evidence intended to supplement evidence provided at first instance within the time-limit set. That interpretation would seem to satisfy the criteria laid down by the Court in OHIM v Kaul, cited in paragraph 42 above, for the admission of evidence submitted late and to correspond to the ‘spirit’ of that judgment. OHIM accepts that, if such an interpretation had to be adopted in the present case, it would be appropriate to hold that the Board of Appeal wrongly concluded that it did not have any discretion in the matter and consequently to uphold the second plea in law and annul the contested decision. During the hearing, OHIM added that that interpretation was consistent with the approach adopted by the General Court in its judgment of 29 September 2011 in Case T-415/09 New Yorker SHK Jeans v OHIM - Vallis K. - Vallis A. (FISHBONE), not published in the ECR, and Case T-308/06 Buffalo Milke Automotive Polishing Products v OHIM - Werner & Mertz (BUFFALO MILKE Automotive Polishing Products) [2011] ECR II-7881, and stated that it left it to the General Court to decide whether it was appropriate to also adopt that interpretation in the present case.

Paul Alfons Rehbein (GmbH & Co.) KG v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) (T-214/08)

Key facts

History · 1 version

Connections