27.10.2012

Official Journal of the European Union

C 331/16

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(Case C-410/12 P)

(2012/C 331/26)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Appellant: medi GmbH & Co. KG (represented by: D. Terheggen, Rechtsanwalt)

Other party to the proceedings: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs)

Form of order sought

—Set aside in full the judgment of the General Court under appeal (Case T-470/09; judgment of 12 July 2012);

—grant in full the form of order sought at first instance in accordance with the application submitted to the General Court of the European Union and the amendments in the oral hearing on 2 May 2012 as recorded in the minutes.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The present appeal is brought against the judgment of the General Court of 12 July 2012 in Case T-470/09, by which the General Court dismissed the action brought by medi GmbH & Co. KG against the decision of 1 October 2009 of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Case R 692/2008-4) concerning the registration of the word sign ‘medi’ as a Community trade mark.

The appellant relies in essence on the following ground of appeal.

The General Court is said to have erred in law in its application of Article 7(1)(b) of the Community trade mark regulation (1) in that it proceeded on the assumption that the word sign ‘medi’ does not have the requisite minimum degree of distinctiveness for a Community trade mark. That is incorrect, as that word sign is not a conventional abbreviation of the word ‘medicine’ for the relevant average English-speaking consumer.

Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 of 26 February 2009 on the Community trade mark (OJ 2009 L 78, p. 1).

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