Judgment_paragraph 55 · Republic of Cyprus v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (T-292/14, T-293/14)

55It is apparent from the case-law cited in paragraph 53 above that the general interest or public interest in keeping descriptive marks free for third parties to use is pre-established and presumed. It follows that, where the mark applied for is descriptive, it is sufficient for the Board of Appeal to make the finding of that descriptive character without, however, having to examine the question whether, notwithstanding its descriptive character, there is in fact a public interest in keeping the mark applied for free for third parties to use. Accordingly, for the purposes of Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation No 207/2009, it need only be examined, on the basis of a given meaning of the word sign at issue, whether, from the point of view of the relevant public, there is a sufficiently direct and specific relationship between the sign and the characteristics of the categories of goods or services in respect of which registration is sought (judgments of 3 December 2003 in Audi v OHIM (TDI), T‑16/02, ECR, EU:T:2003:327, paragraph 29, and of 23 October 2007 in BORCO-Marken-Import Matthiesen v OHIM (Caipi), T‑405/04, EU:T:2007:315, paragraph 44). In that context, it is also worth recalling that the application of Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation No 207/2009 does not depend on the existence of a real, current or serious need to leave a sign free (see, to that effect, judgments of 27 February 2002 in Streamserve v OHIM (STREAMSERVE), T‑106/00, ECR, EU:T:2002:43, paragraph 39; of 9 February 2010 in PromoCell bioscience alive v OHIM (SupplementPack), T‑113/09, EU:T:2010:34, paragraph 27; and of 8 July 2010 in Trautwein v OHIM (Representation of a horse), T‑386/08, EU:T:2010:296, paragraph 45).

Republic of Cyprus v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (T-292/14, T-293/14)

Key facts

History · 1 version

Connections