Request for a preliminary ruling from the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça (Portugal) lodged on 18 October 2017 — J. Portugal Ramos Vinhos SA v Adega Cooperativa de Borba CRL

(Case C-629/17)

(2018/C 032/20)

Language of the case: Portuguese

Referring court

Supremo Tribunal de Justiça

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: J. Portugal Ramos Vinhos SA

Defendant: Adega Cooperativa de Borba CRL

Question referred

In relation to the wording in Article [3](1)(c) of Directive 2008/95/EC, (1)‘indications which may serve, in trade, to designate other characteristics of the goods or service’, when used in the assessment of the permissibility of the registration of signs or indications intended to be adopted in order to designate wine products, must that wording be interpreted to the effect that it covers, in the verbal expressions adopted as a mark, including a protected geographical name as a designation of origin of wine, a reference to the word ‘adega’ [winery] — in the sense of a term currently used to identify the facilities and sites where the production process for such goods takes place — in the verbal expression adopted as a mark, in situations where that word (adega) is one of the various verbal elements which make up the corporate name of the legal entity seeking to register the mark?

(1)  Directive 2008/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (Codified version) (OJ 2008 L 299, p. 25).