Time for a General Grumble

The IPKat had hoped that the change of name -- from Court of First Instance to General Court -- might have had some beneficial affect upon the manner in which the decisions of that court are made available to those avid trade mark enthusiasts who cast their eyes excitedly across its every Community trade mark decision in the hope of absorbing some of its wisdom. Alas, if you are one such enthusiast, you may be feeling a little bit crestfallen at this precise moment.

There are two fresh Community trade mark decisions from the General Court today, but they do not leave the IPKat feeling particularly delighted.

The first case is Case T‑309/08, G-Star Raw Denim kft v OHIM, ESGW Holdings Ltd. This looks like quite a fun decision involving two images. The first, for which CTM application was made, was for 'Data processing equipment and computers’. The second, belonging to the opponent, was for various items of clothing, sportswear and accessories in Class 25. This was a really contentious Article 8(4)/Article 8(5) of Regulation 207/2009 opposition and the crucial issue was the comparison of the respective marks -- both of which are kindly and helpfully portrayed in little boxes which contain nothing more revealing than the words "image not found". Says the IPKat -- there are quite a few employees of the organs of the European Union who read this blog. Some of you email me to have a moan about life in general, the problems of being at the heart of Europe etc. I now call upon you to put this right; rise up from your laden lunch-tables, fling your table napkins to the floor, cast aside your caution and ensure that every illustration referred to in a General Court judgment appears in the judgment where responsible readers can see it.

The second case, Case T-34/07 Goncharev v OHIM, is an appeal against refusal to register the word DSBW as a Community trade mark. This decision is so far available only in French and German, which leaves the IPKat wondering how many people within the European Union, whose linguistic skills (be they ever so great) do not include French and German, preclude them from understanding the decision. Merpel's annoyed too. Anyone can see, she says, that DSBW is an English word because it's written with English letters ...

Invisible pictures here

Invisible clothes here

One illustration that you can see: EU salary adjustment procedures

ADDENDUM: since posting this item, the IPKat received a lovely email from one of his allies at OHIM, with the images that the Curia website failed to reproduce in the G-Star case. Here they are!