Order of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 19 February 2025 –
QX World v EUIPO – Mandelay (EDUCTOR)

(Case T‑103/24)

(EU trade mark – Invalidity proceedings – EU word mark EDUCTOR – Earlier non-registered mark EDUCTOR – Relative ground for invalidity – Article 53(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 60(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) – Article 8(3) of Regulation No 207/2009 (now Article 8(3) of Regulation 2017/1001) – Infringement of essential procedural requirements – Principle of functional continuity – Article 72(1) of Regulation 2017/1001 – Error of law – Criteria for assessing the well-known character of a mark – Article 6bis of the Paris Convention – Distortion of the clear sense of the evidence produced – Action manifestly lacking any foundation in law)

EU trade mark – Appeals procedure – Appeal brought against a decision of a unit of EUIPO ruling at first instance and referred to the Board of Appeal – Functional continuity between those two bodies – Examination of the appeal by the Board of Appeal – Scope

(European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 71(1))

(see paragraph 24)

2.	EU trade mark – Appeals procedure – Action before the EU judicature – Condition of admissibility – Pleas directed only against decisions of the Boards of Appeal (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 72(1)) (see paragraph 30)

EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Absence of consent on the part of the proprietor of a mark to the registration applied for by an agent or a representative under its own name – Well-known mark – Concept – Criteria for assessment

(Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(2)(c), Art. 8(3) and Art. 53(1)(b))

(see paragraphs 35, 37, 38, 47)

Operative part

1.	The action is dismissed.

2.	QX World Kft. is to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by Mandelay Kft.

3.	The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is to bear its own costs.