The limits of its jurisdiction

B9 10549. Gerecht EU, 14 december 2011, zaak T‑504/09, Völkl GmbH & Co. tegen OHIM / Marker Völkl International GmbH.

Merkenrecht. EU-oppositieprocedure o.g.v.  internationaal woordmerk VÖLKL tegen de inschrijving van het woordmerk VÖLKL (sportkleding).  Procesrecht:  Het Gerecht vernietigt de beslissing van de Board of Appeal van het OHIM, dat de zaak terugwees naar de Opposition Division. De BoA is naar mening van het Gerecht buiten haar bevoegdheid is getreden door alle waren bij het beroep te betrekken. Ook m.b.t. het normale gebruik van het oudere merk heeft de BoA een onjuist oordeel gegeven.

54/56 Where an appeal before the Board of Appeal concerns only part of the goods or services covered by an application for registration or by the opposition, that appeal entitles the Board of Appeal to carry out a new examination of the substance of the opposition, but only so far as concerns those goods or services, since the application for registration and the opposition were not brought before it as regards the other goods or services covered.  That is the situation in the present case. (…)  Consequently and as the applicant, in essence, submits by its second plea, by annulling paragraph 2 of the operative part of the decision of the Opposition Division relating to the other goods, the Board of Appeal has exceeded the limits of its jurisdiction.

Genuine Use: 112/113. As has already been stated in paragraph 107 above, the goods covered by the large majority of the invoices produced by the intervener could not be clearly identified. (…)  the evidence of genuine use of the earlier mark taken into consideration by the Board of Appeal, namely the invoices and catalogues filed by the intervener, were not sufficient to support the finding in the contested decision that the earlier mark had been genuinely used for the goods in Classes 18, 25 and 28 covered by it throughout the period to which those invoices related. At most, that evidence constituted indications that such use might be regarded as probable.

Lees het arrest hier.