Judgment_paragraph 70 · Lego Juris A/S v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) (C-48/09 P)

70The identification of those essential characteristics must be carried out on a case-by-case basis. There is no hierarchy that applies systematically between the various types of elements of which a sign may consist (see, to that effect, Case C-488/06 P L & D v OHIM [2008] ECR I-5725, paragraph 55). Moreover, in determining the essential characteristics of a sign, the competent authority may either base its assessment directly on the overall impression produced by the sign, or first examine in turn each of the components of the sign concerned (see, by analogy, Joined Cases C-468/01 P to C-472/01 P Procter & Gamble v OHIM [2004] ECR I-5141, paragraph 45, and Case C-286/04 P Eurocermex v OHIM [2005] ECR I-5797, paragraph 23).