Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 10 November 2011 – LG Electronics v OHIM

(Case C‑88/11 P)

Appeal – Community trade mark – Word sign ‘KOMPRESSOR PLUS’ – Refusal to register – Regulation (EC) No 40/94 – Article 7(1)(c) – Descriptive character – Consideration of new evidence by the General Court – Distortion of the facts and evidence

1. Community trade mark – Procedural provisions – Examination of the facts of the Office’s own motion – Scope – No obligation to prove matters of common knowledge – Issue before the General Court – Documents produced in order to substantiate the accuracy of a fact of common knowledge (Council Regulation No 40/94, Art. 74(1)) (see paras 26-30)

2. Appeals – Grounds – Incorrect assessment of the facts and evidence – Inadmissibility – Review by the Court of the assessment of the facts and evidence – Possible only where the clear sense of the evidence has been distorted (Art. 256(1) TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.) (see paras 36-37)

Re:

Operative part

The Court:

1.Dismisses the appeal;

2.Orders LG Electronics Inc. to pay the costs.