Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions)

ORDER OF THE GENERAL COURT (Eighth Chamber)

10 January 2019 (*)

(European Union trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Withdrawal of the opposition — No need to adjudicate)

In Case T-557/18,

LG Electronics, Inc., established in Seoul (South Korea), represented by M. Graf, lawyer,

applicant,

v

European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), represented by D. Gája, acting as Agent,

defendant,

the other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO being

Beko plc, established in Watford (United Kingdom),

ACTION brought against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 11 July 2018 (Case R 41/2018-5), relating to opposition proceedings between Beko plc and LG Electronics, Inc.,

THE GENERAL COURT (Eighth Chamber),

composed of A. M. Collins, President, M. Kancheva and G. De Baere (Rapporteur), Judges,

Registrar: E. Coulon,

makes the following

Order

1        By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 8 November 2018, the applicant informed the Court that the other party to the proceedings before the board of Appeal of EUIPO, Beko plc, had withdrawn its opposition to the application for registration of the contested trade mark and stated that, in its view, there was no longer any need to adjudicate on the present action. It did not seek an order as to costs.

2        By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 13 November 2018, the defendant confirmed that the opposition in the present case has been withdrawn and notified the Court of its agreement to the application for a declaration that there was no need to adjudicate. The defendant requested not to be ordered to bear the costs.

3        Pursuant to Article 130 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, it is sufficient in the present case to find that, in the light of the withdrawal of the opposition, the present action has become devoid of purpose. There is therefore no longer any need to adjudicate on it (order of 3 July 2003 in Lichtwer Pharma v OHIM — Biofarma (Sedonium), T‑10/01, EU:T:2003:182, paragraphs 16 to 18).

4        Article 137 of the Rules of Procedure provides that, where a case does not proceed to judgment, the costs are to be in the discretion of the Court.

5        In the circumstances of the present case, the Court considers that the applicant must be ordered to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the defendant.

On those grounds,

THE GENERAL COURT (Eighth Chamber)

hereby orders:

1.      There is no longer any need to adjudicate on the action.

2.      LG Electronics, Inc. shall bear its own costs and pay those incurred by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

Luxembourg, 10 January 2019.

* Language of the case: English.

© European Union
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