"54 As regards the goods and services in question, other than those in Class 12 [ie "vehicles and apparatus for locomotion by land"], the Board of Appeal based its refusal of registration on the fact that the slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ conveys an objective message to the effect that technological superiority enables the manufacture and supply of better goods and services. According to the Board of Appeal, a combination of words which limits itself to that banal objective message is, in principle, devoid of any inherently distinctive character and cannot therefore be registered unless it is shown that the public has come to perceive it as a trade mark.

55 That analysis shows that Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation No 40/94 was misapplied.

56 ... all marks made up of signs or indications that are also used as advertising slogans, indications of quality or incitements to purchase the goods or services covered by those marks convey by definition, to a greater or lesser extent, an objective message. It is clear, however, from the case‑law ... that those marks are not, by virtue of that fact alone, devoid of distinctive character.

57 Thus, in so far as those marks are not descriptive for the purposes of Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation No 40/94, they can express an objective message, even a simple one, and still be capable of indicating to the consumer the commercial origin of the goods or services in question. That can be the position, in particular, where those marks are not merely an ordinary advertising message, but possess a certain originality or resonance, requiring little in the way of interpretation by the relevant public, or setting off a cognitive process in the minds of that public.

58 Even if it were to be supposed that the slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ conveys an objective message to the effect that technological superiority enables the manufacture and supply of better goods and services, that fact would not support the conclusion that the mark applied for is devoid of any inherently distinctive character. However simple such a message may be, it cannot be categorised as ordinary to the point of excluding, from the outset and without any further analysis, the possibility that that mark is capable of indicating to the consumer the commercial origin of the goods or services in question.

59 In that context, it should be pointed out that that message does not follow obviously from the slogan in question. As Audi observed, the combination of words ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ (meaning, inter alia, advance or advantage through technology) suggests, at first glance, only a causal link and accordingly requires a measure of interpretation on the part of the public. Furthermore, that slogan exhibits a certain originality and resonance which makes it easy to remember. Lastly, inasmuch as it is a widely known slogan which has been used by Audi for many years, it cannot be excluded that the fact that members of the relevant public are used to establishing the link between that slogan and the motor vehicles manufactured by that company also makes it easier for that public to identify the commercial origin of the goods or services covered.

60 It follows from the foregoing considerations that the contested decision must be annulled in so far as, on the basis of Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation No 40/94, the Second Board of Appeal refused in part the application for registration of the mark Vorsprung durch Technik".