OPPOSITION Nо B 3 124 162

 

Ece Projektmanagement G.M.B.H. & Co. Kg, Heegbarg 30, 22391 Hamburg, Germany (opponent), represented by Osborne Clarke (Hamburg), Reeperbahn 1, 20359 Hamburg, Germany (professional representative) 

 

a g a i n s t

 

Ece Piknik Ürünleri Plastik Ve Kömür Üretim Ithalat Ihracat Anonim Sirketi, Çerkesli Osb Mahallesi, Imes Bulvari, Imes Osb, No: 13, Dilovasi/kocaeli, Turkey (applicant), represented by Silex Ip, Poeta Joan Maragall 9, Esc. Izq., 3º Izq., 28020 Madrid, Spain (professional representative).

On 10/06/2021, the Opposition Division takes the following

 

 

DECISION:

 

1.	Opposition No B 3 124 162 is rejected in its entirety.

 

2.	The opponent bears the costs, fixed at EUR 300.

 

REASONS

 

On 16/06/2020, the opponent filed an opposition against all the goods and services of European Union trade mark application No 18 163 717 (figurative mark). The opposition is based on German trade mark registration No 30 752 071, (figurative mark). The opponent invoked Article 8(1)(b) EUTMR and Article 8(5) EUTMR.

 

LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION — ARTICLE 8(1)(b) EUTMR

 

A likelihood of confusion exists if there is a risk that the public might believe that the goods or services in question, under the assumption that they bear the marks in question, come from the same undertaking or, as the case may be, from economically linked undertakings. Whether a likelihood of confusion exists depends on the appreciation in a global assessment of several factors, which are interdependent. These factors include the similarity of the signs, the similarity of the goods and services, the distinctiveness of the earlier mark, the distinctive and dominant elements of the conflicting signs, and the relevant public.

 

a) The goods and services

 

The goods on which the opposition is based are the following:

Class 35: Planning of real estate property and establishments from a business point of view, particularly of retail and service establishments such as shopping centers, of health facilities and care facilities such as hospitals, old people's homes and nursing homes, of traffic stations such as railway stations and airports, parking facilities such as multi-storey car parks, of office buildings and administrative buildings and of logistics facilities such as goods distribution centers; marketing research; advertising; business management; business administration; office functions; business investigations; economic forecasting; marketing studies; modelling for advertising or sales promotion; news clipping services; opinion polling; organization of exhibitions for commercial or advertising purposes; organization of trade fairs for commercial or advertising purposes; procurement services for others [purchasing goods and services for other businesses]; public relations; sponsorship search; publicity material rental; rental of advertising space; rental of advertising time on communication media; shop window dressing.

Class 36: Financial planning, rental and administration of real estate property and establishments, particularly of retail and service establishments such as shopping centers, of health facilities and care facilities such as hospitals, old people's homes and nursing homes, of traffic stations such as railway stations and airports, parking facilities such as multi-storey car parks, of office buildings and administrative buildings and of logistics facilities such as goods distribution centers (included in this class); insurance underwriting; financial affairs; monetary affairs; real estate affairs; financial consultancy; financial information; financial sponsorship; insurance consultancy; insurance information.

Class 37: Construction of real estate property and establishments, particularly of retail and service establishments such as shopping centers, of health facilities and care facilities such as hospitals, old people's homes and nursing homes, of traffic stations such as railway stations and airports, parking facilities such as multi-storey car parks, of office buildings and administrative buildings and of logistics facilities such as goods distribution centers; construction; repair work carried out to the aforesaid real estate and establishments, installation services.

Class 42: Technical planning of real estate property and establishments, particularly of retail and service establishments such as shopping centers, of health facilities and care facilities such as hospitals, old people's homes and nursing homes, of traffic stations such as railway stations and airports, parking facilities such as multi-storey car parks, of office buildings and administrative buildings and of logistics facilities such as goods distribution centers; scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto; industrial analysis and research services; design and development of computer hardware and software; cloud seeding; conversion of data or documents from physical to electronic media; rental of computer software; rental of web servers.

The contested goods and services are the following:

 

Class 4: Lighter fluid for charcoal; kindling; kindling wood; coal; liquid fuels; solid fuels.

Class 6: Aluminium foil.

Class 8: Tableware [knives, forks and spoons]; barbecue fans.

Class 11: Barbecues; barbecue grills; charcoal grills; grills [cooking appliances]; roasting spits.

Class 16: Plastic cling film, extensible, for palletization; oil-proof paper; plastic bags for oven cooking; freezer bags; food bag tape for freezer use; garbage bags of paper or of plastics; tablecloths of paper; cake toppers of paper; cake decorations of paper.

Class 20: Cake decorations of plastic; cake toppers of plastic.

Class 21: Serving tongs; barbecue tongs; salad tongs; meat tongs; bread tongs; pans; cups of paper or plastic; cardboard cups; cleaning swabs for household purposes; microfibre cloths for cleaning; mops; mop heads; scouring pads; scouring pads for household purposes; dishwashing gloves; gloves for household purposes; latex gloves for household purposes; fitted picnic baskets, including dishes; toothpicks; cake molds; drinking straws; swizzle sticks; paper plates; plastic plates; serving plates; bowls, not of precious metal; table plates, not of precious metal; drinking straws made of paper and plastic.

Class 24: Tablecloths, not of paper; microfibre towels.

Class 28: Christmas trees of artificial material, ornaments for Christmas trees, artificial snow for Christmas trees, rattles (playthings), novelties for parties, dances (party favors), paper party hats.

Class 35: The bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods, namely, lighter fluid for charcoal, kindling, kindling wood, coal, liquid fuels, solid fuels, aluminium foil, tableware [knives, forks and spoons], barbecues, barbecue grills, charcoal grills, grills [cooking appliances], roasting spits, enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods; the bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods, namely, plastic cling film, extensible, for palletization, oil-proof paper, plastic bags for oven cooking, freezer bags, food bag tape for freezer use, drinking straws made of paper and plastic, garbage bags of paper or of plastics, tablecloths of paper, cake toppers of paper, cake decorations of paper, cake decorations of plastic, cake toppers of plastic, enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods; the bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods, namely, serving tongs, barbecue tongs, salad tongs, meat tongs, bread tongs, pans, cups of paper or plastic, cardboard cups, cleaning swabs for household purposes, microfibre cloths for cleaning, mops, mop heads, scouring pads, scouring pads for household purposes, dishwashing gloves, gloves for household purposes, enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods; The bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods, namely, latex gloves for household purposes, fitted picnic baskets, including dishes, toothpicks, cake molds, drinking straws, swizzle sticks, paper plates, plastic plates, serving plates, bowls, not of precious metal, table plates, not of precious metal, barbecue fans, tablecloths, not of paper, microfibre towels, Christmas trees of artificial material, enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods; the bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods, namely, ornaments for Christmas trees, artificial snow for Christmas trees, rattles (playthings), novelties for parties, dances (party favors), paper party hats, enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods, such services may be provided by retail stores, wholesale outlets, by means of electronic media or through mail order catalogues.

An interpretation of the wording of the list of goods and services is required to determine the scope of protection of these goods and services.

The term ‘particularly’, used in the opponent’s list of services, indicates that the specific services are only examples of items included in the category and that protection is not restricted to them. In other words, it introduces a non-exhaustive list of examples (09/04/2003, T‑224/01, Nu‑Tride, EU:T:2003:107).

However, the term ‘namely’, used in the applicant’s list of services to show the relationship of individual services to a broader category, is exclusive and restricts the scope of protection only to the services specifically listed.

The relevant factors relating to the comparison of the goods or services include, inter alia, the nature and purpose of the goods or services, the distribution channels, the sales outlets, the producers, the method of use and whether they are in competition with each other or complementary to each other.

 

Contested goods in Classes 4, 6, 8, 11, 16, 20, 21, 24 and 28

The contested goods are mainly coal, fuels and kindling wood in Class 4, alluminium foil in Class 6, tableware and barbecue fans in Class 8, barbecues, grills and roasting spits in Class 11, plastic film, food bags, tablecloths and cake decorations and toppers of paper in Class 16, cake decorations and toppers of plastic in Class 20, tongs, cups, mops, pads, gloves, backets, bowls, table plates for household purposes, drinking straws in Class 21, tablecloths, not of paper and microfibre towels in Class 24 and Christmas trees and ornaments for these, playthings, novelties for parties in Class 28. The opponent’s services consist mainly of advertising, business management, business administration and office functions, procurement services for others and shop window dressing in Class 35, financial, insurance and real estate services in Class 36, construction and building reparation services in Class 37 and scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto, industrial analysis and research services, design and development of computer hardware and software in Class 42, including those related to real estate.

The contested goods and the opponent’s services, apart from being different in nature, since services are intangible whereas goods are tangible, serve different needs. Furthermore, although some of the relevant goods might be offered and sold in shopping centres and the opponent’s services consist, inter alia, of management of shopping centres, they are not complementary as the opponent claims in the sense that one is indispensable or essential for the use of the other. Contrary to the opponent’s opinion, the management of shopping centres involves services to help such centres manage their business by setting out its strategy and/or direction. Such services involve activities such as controlling, leading, monitoring, organizing and planning and as such have nothing in common with the contested goods.

All of the goods and services under comparison have different natures, purposes, methods of use. They are not complementary, nor in competition and are not provided by the same type of undertaking and thus do not follow the same channels of distribution nor target the same consumers.

Therefore, the goods and services are dissimilar.

Contested services in Class 35

The contested services in this class consist mainly of bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods (found above dissimilar to all the opponent’s services) and enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods, while the opponent’s services are business support services intended to help other commercial or industrial undertakings and other organisations to run and improve their business, financial, real estate, insurance and technical services. Contrary to the opponent’s opinion, the operation and management of shopping centres, given its nature as already described above, is different than the retailing of specific goods, which evolve around the bringing together of various goods so that customers can conveniently view and purchase them.

Consequently, besides their natures, their purposes are very different and are not provided by the same undertakings, nor target the same consumers. It follows that they are neither complementary nor in competition.

Therefore, the services are dissimilar.

 

b) Conclusion 

 

According to Article 8(1)(b) EUTMR, the similarity of the goods or services is a condition for a finding of likelihood of confusion. Since the goods and services are clearly dissimilar, one of the necessary conditions of Article 8(1)(b) EUTMR is not fulfilled, and the opposition must be rejected.

 

This finding would still be valid even if the earlier trade mark were to be considered as enjoying a high degree of distinctiveness. Given that the dissimilarity of the goods and services cannot be overcome by the highly distinctive character of the earlier trade mark, the evidence submitted by the opponent in this respect does not alter the outcome reached above.

 

REPUTATION — ARTICLE 8(5) EUTMR

 

According to Article 8(5) EUTMR, upon opposition by the proprietor of a registered earlier trade mark within the meaning of Article 8(2) EUTMR, the contested trade mark will not be registered where it is identical with, or similar to, an earlier trade mark, irrespective of whether the goods or services for which it is applied are identical with, similar to or not similar to those for which the earlier trade mark is registered, where, in the case of an earlier European Union trade mark, the trade mark has a reputation in the Union or, in the case of an earlier national trade mark, the trade mark has a reputation in the Member State concerned and where the use without due cause of the contested trade mark would take unfair advantage of, or be detrimental to, the distinctive character or the repute of the earlier trade mark.

 

Therefore, the grounds for refusal of Article 8(5) EUTMR are only applicable when the following conditions are met.

 

 The signs must be either identical or similar.

 

 The opponent’s trade mark must have a reputation. The reputation must also be prior to the filing of the contested trade mark; it must exist in the territory concerned and for the goods and/or services on which the opposition is based.

 

 Risk of injury: use of the contested trade mark would take unfair advantage of, or be detrimental to, the distinctive character or repute of the earlier trade mark.

 

The abovementioned requirements are cumulative and, therefore, the absence of any one of them will lead to the rejection of the opposition under Article 8(5) EUTMR (16/12/2010, T‑345/08 & T‑357/08, Botolist / Botocyl, EU:T:2010:529, § 41). However, the fulfilment of all the abovementioned conditions may not be sufficient. The opposition may still fail if the applicant establishes due cause for the use of the contested trade mark.

 

a) Reputation of the earlier trade mark

 

According to the opponent, the earlier trade mark has a reputation in Germany.

 

Reputation implies a knowledge threshold that is reached only when the earlier mark is known by a significant part of the relevant public for the goods or services it covers. The relevant public is, depending on the goods or services marketed, either the public at large or a more specialised public.

 

In the present case, the contested trade mark was filed on 10/12/2019. Therefore, the opponent was required to prove that the trade mark on which the opposition is based had acquired a reputation in Germany prior to that date. The evidence must also show that the reputation was acquired for the services for which the opponent has claimed reputation, namely:

 

Class 35: Planning of real estate property and establishments from a business point of view, particularly of retail and service establishments such as shopping centers, of health facilities and care facilities such as hospitals, old people's homes and nursing homes, of traffic stations such as railway stations and airports, parking facilities such as multi-storey car parks, of office buildings and administrative buildings and of logistics facilities such as goods distribution centers; marketing research; advertising; business management; business administration; office functions; business investigations; economic forecasting; marketing studies; modelling for advertising or sales promotion; news clipping services; opinion polling; organization of exhibitions for commercial or advertising purposes; organization of trade fairs for commercial or advertising purposes; procurement services for others [purchasing goods and services for other businesses]; public relations; sponsorship search; publicity material rental; rental of advertising space; rental of advertising time on communication media; shop window dressing.

Class 36: Financial planning, rental and administration of real estate property and establishments, particularly of retail and service establishments such as shopping centers, of health facilities and care facilities such as hospitals, old people's homes and nursing homes, of traffic stations such as railway stations and airports, parking facilities such as multi-storey car parks, of office buildings and administrative buildings and of logistics facilities such as goods distribution centers (included in this class); insurance underwriting; financial affairs; monetary affairs; real estate affairs; financial consultancy; financial information; financial sponsorship; insurance consultancy; insurance information.

Class 37: Construction of real estate property and establishments, particularly of retail and service establishments such as shopping centers, of health facilities and care facilities such as hospitals, old people's homes and nursing homes, of traffic stations such as railway stations and airports, parking facilities such as multi-storey car parks, of office buildings and administrative buildings and of logistics facilities such as goods distribution centers; construction; repair work carried out to the aforesaid real estate and establishments, installation services.

Class 42: Technical planning of real estate property and establishments, particularly of retail and service establishments such as shopping centers, of health facilities and care facilities such as hospitals, old people's homes and nursing homes, of traffic stations such as railway stations and airports, parking facilities such as multi-storey car parks, of office buildings and administrative buildings and of logistics facilities such as goods distribution centers; scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto; industrial analysis and research services; design and development of computer hardware and software; cloud seeding; conversion of data or documents from physical to electronic media; rental of computer software; rental of web servers.

The opposition is directed against the following goods and services:

 

Class 4: Lighter fluid for charcoal; kindling; kindling wood; coal; liquid fuels; solid fuels.

Class 6: Aluminium foil.

Class 8: Tableware [knives, forks and spoons]; barbecue fans.

Class 11: Barbecues; barbecue grills; charcoal grills; grills [cooking appliances]; roasting spits.

Class 16: Plastic cling film, extensible, for palletization; oil-proof paper; plastic bags for oven cooking; freezer bags; food bag tape for freezer use; garbage bags of paper or of plastics; tablecloths of paper; cake toppers of paper; cake decorations of paper.

Class 20: Cake decorations of plastic; cake toppers of plastic.

Class 21: Serving tongs; barbecue tongs; salad tongs; meat tongs; bread tongs; pans; cups of paper or plastic; cardboard cups; cleaning swabs for household purposes; microfibre cloths for cleaning; mops; mop heads; scouring pads; scouring pads for household purposes; dishwashing gloves; gloves for household purposes; latex gloves for household purposes; fitted picnic baskets, including dishes; toothpicks; cake molds; drinking straws; swizzle sticks; paper plates; plastic plates; serving plates; bowls, not of precious metal; table plates, not of precious metal; drinking straws made of paper and plastic.

Class 24: Tablecloths, not of paper; microfibre towels.

Class 28: Christmas trees of artificial material, ornaments for Christmas trees, artificial snow for Christmas trees, rattles (playthings), novelties for parties, dances (party favors), paper party hats.

Class 35: The bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods, namely, lighter fluid for charcoal, kindling, kindling wood, coal, liquid fuels, solid fuels, aluminium foil, tableware [knives, forks and spoons], barbecues, barbecue grills, charcoal grills, grills [cooking appliances], roasting spits, enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods; The bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods, namely, plastic cling film, extensible, for palletization, oil-proof paper, plastic bags for oven cooking, freezer bags, food bag tape for freezer use, drinking straws made of paper and plastic, garbage bags of paper or of plastics, tablecloths of paper, cake toppers of paper, cake decorations of paper, cake decorations of plastic, cake toppers of plastic, enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods; The bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods, namely, serving tongs, barbecue tongs, salad tongs, meat tongs, bread tongs, pans, cups of paper or plastic, cardboard cups, cleaning swabs for household purposes, microfibre cloths for cleaning, mops, mop heads, scouring pads, scouring pads for household purposes, dishwashing gloves, gloves for household purposes, enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods; The bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods, namely, latex gloves for household purposes, fitted picnic baskets, including dishes, toothpicks, cake molds, drinking straws, swizzle sticks, paper plates, plastic plates, serving plates, bowls, not of precious metal, table plates, not of precious metal, barbecue fans, tablecloths, not of paper, microfibre towels, Christmas trees of artificial material, enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods; The bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods, namely, ornaments for Christmas trees, artificial snow for Christmas trees, rattles (playthings), novelties for parties, dances (party favors), paper party hats, enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods, such services may be provided by retail stores, wholesale outlets, by means of electronic media or through mail order catalogues.

In order to determine the mark’s level of reputation, all the relevant facts of the case must be taken into consideration, including, in particular, the market share held by the trade mark, the intensity, geographical extent and duration of its use, and the size of the investment made by the undertaking in promoting it.

 

On 08/12/2020 the opponent submitted the following evidence:

 

 The opponent claims that it is the European market leader in operating and managing shopping centres and that it has been active on the market for over fifty years. It claims to be operating and managing over 200 shopping centres throughout Europe, in Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Spain and Italy. Out of the 200 about 100 of its major shopping centres are being operated all over Germany.

 Printouts and screenshots from the opponent’s official website https://www.ece.com/en/ displaying figures related to ECE company, such as a turnover of 22.7 billion euros per year, 4 million visitors per day, 7 million square metres of sales area and 20 000 shops.

 A printout of the German Wikipedia article related to ECE Projektmanagement.

 Printouts and screenshot from the opponent’s official website https://www.ece.com/en/ presenting the ECE Center Portfolio, displaying, inter alia, photos of several shopping centers in Germany such as ‘A10 Center’, ‘Allee Center’, ‘Altmarkt Galerie’, ‘Aquis Plaza’, ‘Brandenburger’, ‘City Galerie’, ‘Einkaufasgalerie Anger’, ‘Elbe Einkaufszentrum’, ‘Erlangen Arcaden’, ‘Ernst August Galerie’, ‘Ettlinger Tor Karlsruhe’, ‘Europa Passage’, ‘Europa Galerie’, ‘Forum Wetzlar’, ‘Franken Center’, ‘Glacis Galerie’, ‘Hamburger Meile’, ‘Herold Center’, , Hessen Center’, ‘Hurth Park’, ‘Ko Galerie’, ‘Leo Center’, ‘Linden Center’, ‘Main Taunus Zentrum’, ‘Oder Center’, ‘PEP’, ‘Phonix Center’, ‘Promenaden Hauptbahnhof’, ‘Quer Park’, ‘Rathaus Center’, ‘Rathaus Galerie’, ‘Rhein Center’, ‘Rheinpark Center’, ‘Rheinruhrzentrum’, ‘Ring Center’, ‘Rotmain Center’, ‘Sachsen Allee’, ‘Schlosshofe’, ‘Skyline Plaza’, ‘Stadt Galerie’, ‘Stern Center’, ‘Tempelhofer Hafen’, ‘Thuringen Park’, ‘Waterfront’, ‘Were Park’.

 Printouts and screenshot from the opponent’s official website https://www.ece.com/en/ presenting the ECE company's history from 1965 until 2016.

 Printouts and screenshot from the opponent’s official website https://www.ece.com/en/ presenting the description of ‘Digital Mall’, an online product search tool, to reserve and collect them directly from the shopping centre. The ‘Digital Mall’ service can also be used to buy goods online, which are then sent directly to the customer with 2.8 articles available through 51 centres.

 Printouts and screenshot (in German) from https://digitalmall.alstertal-einkaufszentrum.de displaying a clothing article and its price.

 A list with the first 100 results of a Google News search for the keywords "ECE" "Shopping Center".

 Printouts and screenshot from the opponent’s official website https://www.ece.com/en/ presenting the ECE: Work & Live section stating that ECE is ’a leader in the field of real estate certification in Germany’.

The Opposition Division finds that the evidence submitted by the opponent does not demonstrate that the earlier trade mark acquired a reputation.

 

Firstly, all the evidence comes from the opponent, and none from independent sources, except the Wikipedia extract. Therefore, it is impossible for this evidence alone to corroborate the opponent’s statements and reflect in a clear and objective manner the degree of recognition of the earlier mark among the relevant public. Secondly, whilst the documents give an indication that the opponent has been trading since 1965 and make reference to the current services offered by the opponent, they do not evidence the intensity of the use or the market share gained under the earlier trade mark. Finally, the evidence does not allow the Opposition Division to conclude on the proportion of the public which identifies these services as originating from the opponent.

Although, some internet extracts from the opponent’s website mention the turnover of the company, the turnover is not confirmed by any other document, such as (audited) financial reports or financial information from an external source.

As far the Wikipedia extract, this evidence has, according to settled case -law, at best an extremely limited evidential value as it does not contain secure information. Wikipedia is a collective encyclopaedia established on the internet, whose content may be amended at any time and, in certain cases, by any visitor, even anonymously (10/02/2010, T-344/07, Homezone, EU: T: 2010: 35, § 46; 09/04/2014, T-502/12, Octasa, EU: T: 2014: 192, § 50; 07/10/2016, R 131/2016-5 -5, LOVIT, § 34).

The evidence filed by the opponent, taken as a whole, provides indications that its mark has been active in trade and present in the market in relation to certain services, such as management of shopping centres. However, the evidence submitted fails to show the intensive use claimed by the opponent. Despite showing some use of the trade mark, the evidence provides little information on the extent of such use. The evidence does not provide any indication of the degree of recognition of the trade mark by the relevant public. Furthermore, the evidence does not indicate the sales volumes, the market share of the trade mark or the extent to which the trade mark has been promoted.

As a result, the evidence does not show that the trade mark is known by a significant part of the relevant public. Under these circumstances, the Opposition Division concludes that the opponent failed to prove that its trade mark has a reputation.

 

As seen above, it is a requirement for the opposition to be successful under Article 8(5) EUTMR that the earlier trade mark has a reputation. Since it has not been established that the earlier trade mark has a reputation, one of the necessary conditions contained in Article 8(5) EUTMR is not fulfilled, and the opposition must be rejected.

COSTS

 

According to Article 109(1) EUTMR, the losing party in opposition proceedings must bear the fees and costs incurred by the other party.

 

Since the opponent is the losing party, it must bear the costs incurred by the applicant in the course of these proceedings.

 

According to Article 109(7) EUTMR and Article 18(1)(c)(i) EUTMIR, the costs to be paid to the applicant are the costs of representation, which are to be fixed on the basis of the maximum rate set therein.

 

 

 

The Opposition Division

 

 

Cynthia DEN DEKKER

Francesca DRAGOSTIN

Rosario GURRIERI

 

 

According to Article 67 EUTMR, any party adversely affected by this decision has a right to appeal against this decision. According to Article 68 EUTMR, notice of appeal must be filed in writing at the Office within two months of the date of notification of this decision. It must be filed in the language of the proceedings in which the decision subject to appeal was taken. Furthermore, a written statement of the grounds for appeal must be filed within four months of the same date. The notice of appeal will be deemed to have been filed only when the appeal fee of EUR 720 has been paid.