13.11.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 382/14

Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 14 September 2017 — European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) v Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto, IP, Bruichladdich Distillery Co. Ltd

(Case C-56/16 P) (1)

((Appeal - EU trade mark - Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 - Article 8(4) and Article 53(1)(c) and (2)(d) - EU word mark PORT CHARLOTTE - Application for a declaration of invalidity of that mark - Protection conferred on the earlier designations of origin ‘Porto’ and ‘Port’ under Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 and under national law - Exhaustive nature of the protection conferred on those designations of origin - Article 118m of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 - Concepts of ‘use’ and ‘evocation’ of a protected designation of origin))

(2017/C 382/16)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Appellant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) (represented by: E. Zaera Cuadrado and O. Mondéjar Ortuño, acting as Agents)

Intervener in support of the appellant: European Commission (represented by B. Eggers, I. Galindo Martín, J. Samnadda and T. Scharf, acting as Agents)

Other parties to the proceedings: Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto, IP (represented by: P. Sousa e Silva, advogado), Bruichladdich Distillery Co. Ltd (represented by: S. Havard Duclos, avocate)

Intervener in support of Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto, IP: Portuguese Republic (represented by: L. Inez Fernandes, M. Figueiredo and A. Alves, acting as Agents)

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.

Sets aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 18 November 2015, Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto v OHIM — Bruichladdich Distillery (PORT CHARLOTTE) (T-659/14, EU:T:2015:863);

2.

Dismisses the action brought by Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto IP in Case T-659/14 against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) of 8 July 2014 (Case R 946/2013-4);

3.

Orders Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto IP to pay the costs incurred by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and by Bruichladdich Distillery Co. Ltd in both sets of judicial proceedings;

4.

Orders the Portuguese Republic and the European Commission to bear their own respective costs.

(1)  OJ C 175, 17.5.2016.