I imagine what I want to write in my case, I write it in the search engine and I get exactly what I wanted. Thank you!
Valentina R., lawyer
—
(2008/C 158/14)
Language of the case: English
Appellant: Dorel Juvenile Group, Inc. (represented by: Dr. G. Simon, Rechtsanwältin)
Other party to the proceedings: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM)
The appellant claims that the Court should:
—annul judgment of the Court of First Instance (Fifth Chamber) of 24 January 2008, Case T-88/06;
—annul the Decision of the Second Board of Appeal of 11 January 2006, Case R 616/2004-2 and
—order the defendant to pay the costs.
The appellant submits that the CFI's assessment of the conditions for registration of a trademark is too restrictive. The appellant argues that the CFI assessed the character of the term ‘SAFETY 1st’ by means of a separate analysis of the element ‘1st’ and based its judgment on the presumption that as the element ‘1st’ was devoid of a distinctive character it cannot acquire such character when combined with the trademark element ‘SAFETY’. According to the appellant the CFI should have assessed the distinctive character of the mark on the overall perception of the wording ‘SAFETY 1st’ by the average consumer. The splitting by the Court of the trademark ‘SAFETY 1st’ into its component parts does not reflect the view and approach adopted by consumers.
The contested judgment relies on a criterion according to which the expression safety first is used to designate the goods covered by the mark applied for ‘as information relating to a quality or characteristic of the goods’. The appellant submits that that criterion is relevant in the context of Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation No 40/94 but it is not the yardstick against which Article 7(1)(b) thereof should be judged. Therefore, the Court based its view that the sign in question fell within the scope of Article 7(1)(b) on the fat that it did not satisfy the criteria for protection governed by Article 7(1)(c).
Finally the appellant submits that the CFI also ignored the fact that Article 12(b) of Regulation No 40/94 constitutes a corrective to the interpretation of Article 7(1)(b).
—
Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark (OJ L 11).
—