13/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 6 March 2007, the Court of First Instance confirmed decision R 823/2004-2 (GOLF-USA) of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs). Rejecting the arguments of the applicant, but commonsensically, the Court ruled that the word mark “Golf USA” could not be registered in the EU by virtue of Council Regulation (EC) no. 40/94, which excludes “trade marks which are devoid of any distinctive character” and “trade marks which consist exclusively of signs … which may serve … to designate the kind, intended purpose, value, geographical origin or the time of production of the goods or of rendering of the service, or other characteristics of the goods or service” (Article 7, para. 1b and c). Golf USA was ordered to pay the costs of the case (T-230/05). (cd)