Game over for commonplace games box shape

OHIM refused to register a European Community Trade Mark that consisted of a rectangular games box with a system of sliding racks for assembly and disassembly. The European Union General Court has agreed with that decision on the basis that it was commonplace for those goods and lacked distinctiveness. Key to the decision was the finding that the relevant public consisted of average, reasonably well-informed and reasonably observant and circumspect consumers. The applicant’s argument that the relevant public would have had a higher level of attention on the premise that the goods were not everyday consumer goods, was rejected.