Judgment of 6 Mar 2019, C-693/17 (BMB v EUIPO), ECLI:EU:C:2019:176.
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Tenth Chamber)
6 March 2019 (*)
(Appeal — Community design — Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 — Article 25(1)(e) — Invalidity proceedings — Design representing comfit boxes for sweets — Declaration of invalidity)
In Case C-693/17 P,
APPEAL under Article 56 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, brought on 10 December 2017,
BMB sp. z o.o., established in Grójec (Poland), represented by K. Czubkowski, radca prawny,
appellant,
the other parties to the proceedings being:
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), represented by S. Hanne and D. Walicka, acting as Agents,
defendant at first instance,
Ferrero SpA, established in Alba (Italy), represented by M. Kefferpütz, Rechtsanwalt,
intervener at first instance,
THE COURT (Tenth Chamber),
composed of C. Lycourgos (Rapporteur), President of the Chamber, E. Juhász and I. Jarukaitis, Judges,
Advocate General: E. Tanchev,
Registrar: A. Calot Escobar,
having regard to the written procedure,
having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to proceed to judgment without an Opinion,
gives the following
Judgment
1 By its appeal, BMB sp. z o.o. asks the Court to set aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 3 October 2017, BMB v EUIPO — Ferrero (Container for sweets) (T-695/15, not published, ‘the judgment under appeal’, EU:T:2017:684), whereby the General Court dismissed its action seeking annulment of the decision of the Third Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 8 September 2015 (Case R 1150/2012-3), concerning invalidity proceedings between Ferrero SpA and BMB (‘the decision at issue’).
Legal context
European Union law
2 Article 25 of Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community designs (OJ 2002 L 3, p. 1), entitled ‘Grounds for invalidity’, provides, in paragraph 1(e):
‘A Community design may be declared invalid only in the following cases:
...
(e) if a distinctive sign is used in a subsequent design, and Community law or the law of the Member State governing that sign confers on the right holder of the sign the right to prohibit such use’.
French law
3 Article L713-3 of the Intellectual Property Code provides:
‘Save where the owner has consented, the following shall be prohibited if there is a risk that they might lead to confusion in the mind of the public:
(a) the reproduction, use or affixing of a mark, or the use of a mark which has been reproduced, in respect of goods or services similar to those for which the mark is registered;
(b) the imitation of a mark or the use of an imitated mark, in respect of goods or services identical with, or similar to, those for which the mark is registered.’
Background to the dispute
4 On 15 November 2007, BMB filed a design with EUIPO, which was registered the same day as a Community design under No 826 680-0001, pursuant to Regulation No 6/2002.
5 The registered design is for comfit boxes and containers in Class 09.03 of the Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs of 8 October 1968, as amended. It is represented as follows:
