EU court rejects Bosch TM appeals
Engineering and electronics company Robert Bosch suffered defeat at the hands of the EU General Court today, March 28, after the court rejected two trademark appeals.
In its ruling, the court affirmed the European Union Intellectual Property Office’s (EUIPO) decision to partially reject the registration of two Bosch-owned trademarks.
Bosch, back in November 2015, had applied to register two trademark figurative signs (one black in white and one in colour) as trademarks, covering classes 7, 9, 11, 12, 36, 37, 38, 41 and 42.
The mark contains the words “Simply Connected” and a wireless connection symbol framed within a rounded square without an upper right corner.
In April the following year, the EUIPO’s examiner refused registration of the mark for classes 9, 37, 38 and 41 and for some of the services in class 42. However, the examiner didn’t object to the registration of goods in classes 7, 11, 12, 36 and the other services in class 42.
Bosch appealed against the two decisions, appeals which were dismissed by the EUIPO’s Fifth Board of Appeal.
The appeal board concluded that the mark’s word elements are understood as a slogan devoid of any distinctive character and that the square and symbol were customary in the context of the products and services covered.
Second, the Board of Appeal also concluded that all of the goods and services were directly related to the provision of wireless connections, such as a normal network connection or the interconnection of products via the Internet of Things.
Bosch appealed against the decisions, but today, the General Court rejected its arguments.
According to Bosch, the appeal board exceeded its jurisdiction when it examined the goods and services in classes 7, 11, 12, 36 and those in class 42.
The General Court rejected this argument as ineffective, finding that although the appeal board had taken into consideration the goods and services for which the examiner hadn't raised any objections, this didn’t have any effect on Bosch’s right to register the mark for those goods and services.
Bosch also argued that the appeal board was wrong to find the trademarks lacked distinctive character.
“Indeed, for the relevant English-speaking public in the EU, the signs in question are perceived as an indication of the abstract qualities of the goods and services covered by the applications for registration,” said the court, while rejecting Bosch’s argument.
Bosch was ordered to pay costs.
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