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Valentina R., lawyer
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(2019/C 148/12)
Language of the case: English
Appellant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (represented by: J. Ivanauskas, Agent)
Other parties to the proceedings: Pirelli Tyre SpA, The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd
The appellant claims that the Court should:
—annul the contested judgment;
—order Pirelli Tyre SpA to pay the costs incurred by the Office.
The Office raises a single plea in law that is the infringement of Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation No 40/94 (1).
—By requiring that in order to be caught by Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation No 40/94 a sign depicting part of a product must represent, quantitatively and qualitatively, a significant part of that product, the General Court misinterpreted the conditions of this ground for refusal;
—The General Court incorrectly considered that a single groove represented in the contested sign is not capable of performing a technical function for the purposes of Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation No 40/94 because in a tyre tread it appears in combination with other elements. First, Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation No 40/94 requires to examine the technical result achieved by the feature of a product represented in the sign at issue, rather than the technical result achieved by the entire product. Secondly, for the purposes of Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation No 40/94 it is irrelevant if a single groove represented in the contested sign is combined with other elements of a tyre tread since it produces a technical result itself and contributes to the functioning of that tyre tread;
—The General Court wrongly presumed that the registration of a single groove represented in the contested sign could not prevent Pirelli’s competitors from making and marketing tyres which incorporate identical or similar grooves. Although a tyre tread consists of the combination and the interaction of various elements, at least part of the public would be able to identify different types of grooves present on a tyre tread.
Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark (OJ 1994 L 11, p. 1).
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