In Case T-598/11, OHIM partly granted registration for the word mark LEAN PERFORMANCE INDEX  for goods  and services in Classes 9,16 and 42 and refused it for services in Class 35.

The General Court dismissed the appeal and found that for the specialized public composed of business management professionals, the expression LEAN PERFOMANCE INDEX refers to a special work method aiming at increasing performance of companies by eliminating superfluous work levels in various fields such as business management, workforce management or stocks.

This production method is sometimes referred to as “lean production” or “Toyota principle” is therefore directly descriptive of the services in question. Further it represents a purely promotional message and also lacks distinctive character. Thus, the CTM application is contrary to Article 7 (1) b) and c) of the CTMR.