Drie oppositiezaken

B9 10200. Gerecht EU, 29 september 2011, zaak T-415/09, New Yorker SHK Jeans tegen OHIM / Vallis.

Merkenrecht. EU-oppositie  o.g.v.  het Griekse nationale merk  FISHBONE BEACHWEAR  (schoeisel) en van het in het economisch verkeer gebruikte nationale teken ‘Fishbone’ tegen de inschrijving van het woordmerk FISHBONE. De oppositie is door het OHIM gedeeltelijk toegewezen voor klasse 25 (schoeisel), maar niet voor klasse 18 (rugzakken etc.). I.c. richt het beroep zicht tegen de toewijzing voor klasse 25. Het Gerecht oordeelt echter dat die toewijzing terecht was, waarbij het concludeert dat het Engels nog steeds niet de lingua franca van de gehele EU is: ‘the word ‘fishbone’ will not be understood by the majority of the relevant public’.

91-97 If account is taken of all those elements, and in particular of the term ‘fishbone’ (…) the conclusion must be that there is only a certain degree of visual similarity between those signs. (…) since the term ‘fishbone’ is the distinctive word element of the mark (…)  the view must be taken that there is aural similarity between the marks at issue (…) there is no need to assess the conceptual similarity between the signs, given that the meaning of the word ‘fishbone’ will not be understood by the majority of the relevant public. (…) It follows from the foregoing that there is a certain degree of visual similarity and a high degree of phonetic similarity between the marks at issue. (…)  the view must be taken that there is a likelihood of confusion between the marks at issue. Even if the relevant public distinguishes the signs at issue, it may nevertheless believe that the goods in question come from the same undertaking or from economically-linked undertakings.

Lees het arrest hier.


Gerecht EU, 29 september 2011, zaak T-107/10, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Cologne tegen  OHMI / Natura Cosméticos.

Merkenrecht. EU-oppositie o.g.v. het nationale merk en gemeenschapsmerk VIVA van P&G (cosmetica) tegen de inschrijving van het woordmerk  NATURAVIVA. Oppositie afgewezen: de tekens stemmen eenvoudigweg onvoldoende overeen.

48. The applicant’s argument that, in the present case, the consumer will not attach greater importance to the first part of the mark applied for, on account of its weak distinctive character, is immaterial. In so far as the elements ‘natura’ and ‘viva’, which together constitute the mark applied for, are of weak distinctive character, as mentioned in paragraphs 40 and 41 above, the case-law cited by the applicant does not apply to the present case.

Lees het arrest hier.


Gerecht EU, 29 september 2011, zaak T-150/10, Telefónica O2 Germany tegen OHIM / Loopia.

Merkenrecht. EU-oppositieprocedure o.g.v.  nationale en gemeenschapswoordmerken LOOP en LOOPY van O2 tegen de inschrijving van het woordmerk LOOPIA (webhosting/webhotel). Het Gerecht vernietigt de beslissing van het OHIM (dat oordeelde dat er geen sprake was van soortgelijke waren en diensten) en wijst de oppositie toe.

35-43. The goods and services listed in paragraphs 24 and 25 above, namely, inter alia, ‘rental of data processing equipment and computers’, ‘computer programming’ and ‘rental of data processing installations and computers’, are essential for the setting up and use of Internet site hosting services (…)  Therefore, it must be held that there is, at least for the general public, a similarity between Internet site hosting services and some of the goods and services covered by the earlier marks, since all of those goods and services belong to the field of information technology, are complementary and use the same distribution channels.

45. It is clear from the contested decision that it is because of the lack of similarity between the goods and services in question that the Board of Appeal held that, despite the similarity between the signs at issue, there was no likelihood of confusion.

Lees het arrest hier.