General Court 03-07-2013 ECLI:EU:T:2013:339

Data

Court: General Court

Case date: 3 juli 2013

Verdict

Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 3 July 2013 —GRE v OHIM — Villiger Söhne (LIBERTE brunes)

(Case T-78/12)

"Community trade mark - Opposition proceedings - Application for the Community figurative mark LIBERTE brunes - Earlier Community word and figurative marks La LIBERTAD - Relative ground for refusal - Likelihood of confusion - Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009"

1. Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markRelative grounds for refusalOpposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or servicesLikelihood of confusion with the earlier markAssessment of the likelihood of confusionCriteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 19-21, 46)

2. Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markRelative grounds for refusalOpposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or servicesLikelihood of confusion with the earlier markFigurative mark LIBERTE brunes and word and figurative marks La LIBERTAD (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 23, 25, 34, 39, 45, 48)

3. Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markRelative grounds for refusalOpposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or servicesSimilarity between the goods or services in questionCriteria for assessmentComplementary character of the products (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 24)

4. Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markRelative grounds for refusalOpposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or servicesSimilarity of the marks concernedCriteria for assessmentComplex mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 26, 27)

5. Community trade markDefinition and acquisition of the Community trade markRelative grounds for refusalOpposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or servicesLikelihood of confusion with the earlier markWeak distinctive character of the earlier markRelevance (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 52)

Re:

ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 1 December 2011 (Case R 2109/2010-1), relating to opposition proceedings between Villiger Söhne GmbH and GRE Grand River Enterprises Deutschland GmbH.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders GRE Grand River Enterprises Deutschland GmbH to pay the costs.