In the past week the Third, Fifth and Sixth chambers of the General Court of the European Union have each delivered judgment in cases spanning a wide range of current issues in trade mark law and procedure.
On 16 May 2019 the Sixth Chamber delivered judgment in Case T-354/18 KID-Systeme v EUIPO EU:T:2019:333, following an oral hearing in Luxembourg on 13 February 2019. The applicant put forward no fewer than eight separate grounds of appeal against the decision of the EUIPO Board of Appeal to refuse registration of the mark 'SkyFi'; alleging inter alia: unfair or illogical selection of earlier marks; giving of unnecessary reasons; failure to suspend; refusal to hold an oral hearing; lack of proof of entitlement to oppose; and breach of natural justice. For the reasons set out in a careful and substantial judgment the appeal was dismissed and the decision of the Board of Appeal upheld. The Judgment can be found here.
On 23 May 2019 the Fifth Chamber delivered judgment in Joined Cases T-3/18 and T-4/18 Holzer y Cia v EUIPO EU:T:2019:357, following an oral hearing in Luxembourg on 22 November 2018. The applicant appealed against the decision of the EUIPO Board of Appeal to refuse registration of two ANN TAYLOR marks on grounds of bad faith. At the end of a long and careful judgment, discussing the concept of bad faith in EU trade mark law and examining the evidence in great depth, the appeal was dismissed and the decision of the Board of Appeal upheld. The Judgment can be found here.
Also on 23 May 2019 the Third Chamber delivered judgment in Case T-837/17 Negru v EUIPO EU:T:2019:351, following oral hearings in Luxembourg on 17 October 2018 and 20 March 2019. The applicant appealed against the decision of the EUIPO Board of Appeal to refuse registration of a 'SkyPrivate' logo mark, contending that the Board had misconstrued the relevant public and had wrongly approached the comparison of signs and goods. The appeal was dismissed and the decision of the Board of Appeal upheld. The Judgment can be found here.
Philip Roberts QC represented the successful interveners, Sky Ltd and AnnCo Inc, in each of these three cases.