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General Court: Member of EURO EXPERTS
In Case T-3/12, Mr. Heinrich Kreyenberg had applied for registration of the following mark for goods and services in classes 9, 16, 35, 36, 39, 41, 42, 44 and 45
The mark was registered despite the written
observations submitted by the European Commission which then initiated invalidity
proceedings on the basis of Article 7(1) h), i) and c) CTMR and various
protected emblems of the EU, including the following:
The Cancellation Division dismissed the invalidity
application. The EU commission successfully appealed before the Board of Appeal
which annulled the trade mark on the basis of the “communication on the use of
the€ symbol” (represented above) and Article 7 (1) i) CTMR which
states “trade marks which include badges, emblems or escutcheons other than
those covered by Article 6ter of the Paris Convention and which are of
particular public interest, unless the consent of the competent authority to
their registration has been given”.
The BoA found that the contested trademark contained
the semi-crown of stars which suggested the idea of the EU and due to the
variety of goods and services belonging to the competence of the EU, the
consumer could be mislead to believe there is a link the CTM proprietor and EU
institutions. In addition, the verbal element “member of Euro experts”
reinforced that impression as it referred to an “official approved” member. The
General Court dismissed the appeal by the CTM proprietor, and confirmed that
Article 7 (1) i) like Art. 7 (1) h) protects not only identical representations
of protected symbols but also an altered imitation. Therefore, the inclusion of
the EURO symbol which according to Art. 3 (4) of the TEU, identifies the legal
entity of the EU, constitutes a violation of the CTMR.
Tags: General court, EU symbols, member of euro experts,



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