In case T-258/09, the General Court upheld partly the contested decision of the 4th Board of Appeal, finding that the word mark BETWIN is descriptive for gambling games and directly linked to services in Classes 35 and 41. Indeed, the omission of the word ‘and’ or the ampersand does not impede the consumer from perceiving the services offered as allowing to ‘bet’ in order to ‘win’. The Applicant’s argument that the sign will be interpreted as ‘BE’ ‘TWIN’ was also dismissed by the Court.

The GC otherwise censored the Board for lack of sufficient motivation for refusing registration on absolute grounds of the contested CTM for the rest of the services, not in direct relation with gambling and entertainment.