B9 11384. Gerecht EU, 27 juni 2012, zaak T-344/09, Hearst Communications tegen OHIM / Vida Estética (COSMOBELLEZA).
Merkenrecht. Seriemerken. EU-oppositieprocedure o.g.v. diverse merkregistraties van o.a. de merken COSMO en COSMOPOLITAN (het bekende damesmodetijdschrift en alle daarmee verwante waren en diensten) tegen de inschrijving van het woordmerk COSMOBELLEZA. Het Gerecht wijst de oppositie af. De tekens stemmen onvoldoende overeen. De bekendheid van het merk Cosmopolitan kan daar niet aan af doen en ook het ‘Cosmo’ seriemerk-argument wordt (in dit geval) verworpen:
91. In any event, in the circumstances of the present case, the element ‘cosmo’ cannot be regarded as the common element which is characteristic of a series consisting of the marks COSMO, COSMOPOLITAN and COSMOBELLEZA, for the purposes of the case-law cited in paragraph 87 above. That is because it is clear that neither in the earlier mark COSMOPOLITAN nor in the mark applied for is it probable that the element ‘COSMO’ will be perceived as being an independent element which serves to connect those marks to a series. In the case of the former, it is the English word ‘cosmopolitan’, used in ever
yday vocabulary, which will be remembered as a whole by consumers, because of its more specific semantic content, distinct from that of the element ‘cosmo’ taken by itself. In the case of the latter, while being fanciful, the mark applied for will also be perceived as it is, that is say, as a homogeneous unit, given that consumers in the United Kingdom have no reason to distinguish its second element, which they will not understand.
92. Moreover, the abovementioned arguments cannot be invalidated by the applicant’s references to certain other marks or ‘notions’ such as those referred to by the terms ‘cosmo tips’ and ‘my cosmo’ which the applicant claims to have used, since the opposition was not based on them and it has not been shown that they were mentioned in the procedure before the Board of Appeal.
Lees het arrest hier.
