Translation of "Motif en forme de campanule " (French → English) :

(a) A country or jurisdiction referred to in Parts 2 and 3 can make an application to the Committee referred to in Article 18b to have any of the legal forms of entities and legal arrangements referred to in Part 1 removed from consideration for their country or jurisdiction on the grounds that the legal forms of entities and legal arrangements referred to could not have their place of effective management located therein or on the ground that appropriate taxation of interest income paid to these legal persons or arrangements is in fact ensured;

a. A country or jurisdiction referred to in Parts 2 and 3 can make an application to the Committee referred to in Article 18b to have any of the legal forms of entities and legal arrangements referred to in Part 1 removed from consideration for their country or jurisdiction on the grounds that the legal forms of entities and legal arrangements referred to could not have their place of effective management located therein or on the ground that appropriate taxation of interest income paid to these legal persons or arrangements is in fact ensured;

As regards the Board of Appeal’s argument that the shape of the product constituting the trade mark applied for cannot perform a trade mark function from the relevant consumers’ point of view on the ground that that mark is essentially dictated by aesthetic considerations (paragraphs 14 to 18 of the contested decision), it suffices to state that, in so far as the relevant public perceives the sign as an indication of the commercial origin of the goods or services, whether or not it serves simultaneously a purpose other than that of indicating commercial origin is immaterial to its distinctive character (Case T-173/00 KWS Saat v OHIM (Sha ...[+++]de of orange) [2002] ECR II-3843, paragraph 30.Grille, paragraph 43; and Case T-129/04 Develey v OHIM (Shape of a plasticbottle) [2006] ECR II-811, paragraph 56).

Firstly, inasmuch as it complains that the Court of First Instance held, in paragraphs 37 and 38 of the judgment under appeal, that the perception of the relevant public is not necessarily the same in the case of a three-dimensional trade mark, consisting of the appearance of the product itself, as in the case of a word or figurative mark, and that the average consumer perceives the shape of drinks packaging as an indication of the commercial origin of the product only if that shape is likely to be perceived from the outset as such an indication, that part of the plea is unfounded for the reasons set out in paragraphs 28 to 30 of the pre ...[+++]sent judgment.

1. Community trade mark – Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark – Absolute grounds for refusal – Trade marks devoid of any distinctive character – Three-dimensional trade marks consisting of the shape of the product – Distinctive character – Criteria for assessment – Shape in question being a ‘variant’ of a common shape of the type of products concerned – Not sufficient to establish the distinctiveness of the trade mark

Community trade mark – Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark – Absolute grounds for refusal – Trade marks devoid of any distinctive character – Three-dimensional trade marks consisting of the shape of the product – Distinctive character – Criteria for assessment – Shape in question being a ‘variant’ of a common shape of the type of products concerned – Not sufficient to establish the distinctiveness of the trade mark