7.12.2015

Official Journal of the European Union

C 406/13

(Case C-399/15 P)

(2015/C 406/14)

Language of the case: Spanish

Parties

Appellant: Vichy Catalán, S.A. (represented by: R. Bercovitz Álvarez, abogado)

Other parties to the proceedings: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) and Hijos de Rivera (Fuente Estrella)

Form of order sought

The appellant claims that the Court should:

—Annul the order under appeal, replacing it with a declaration that the application brought by the appellant in Case T-302/15 before the General Court is admissible.

—Order any parties that may appear to defend order under appeal to pay the costs of the present appeal.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The order of the General Court (Third Chamber) in which the application was dismissed as inadmissible is unlawful for the following reasons:

1.Infringement of Article 45 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union (no statute-barring when the existence of unforeseeable circumstances, or of force majeure, is proved), in two respects;

a.the order was made without giving sufficient time for the appellant to prove the existence of unforeseeable circumstances or force majeure that delayed the sending of the hard copy of the application. That has deprived the appellant of the right to a fair hearing; and

b.there were unforeseeable circumstances in the present case.

2.Incorrect interpretation of Article 43(6) of the Rules of Procedure.

3.Retroactive application, to the detriment of the appellant, of new provisions of the Rules of Procedure, which came into force on 1 July 2015, to situations which had to be subject to the previous Rules of Procedure.