Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 5 May 2015

Data

Court: General Court

Case date: 5 mei 2015

Verdict

Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 5 May 2015 —

Skype v OHIM — Sky and Sky IP International (SKYPE)

(Case T‑183/13)

"Community trade mark - Opposition proceedings - Application for Community word mark SKYPE - Earlier Community word mark SKY - Relative ground for refusal - Likelihood of confusion - Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009"

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 markCriteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 17, 40, 50)

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 markRefusal to register on a ground relating to refusal even limited to part of the Union (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 18)

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 confusionDetermination of the relevant publicAttention level of the public (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 19)

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 markWord marks SKYPE and SKY (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 22, 26, 34, 65, 66)

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 markHigh distinctiveness of the earlier markCriteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 42, 43)

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 markCriteria for assessmentCoexistence of two marks on a given market (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 60)

Re:

ACTION brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of OHIM of 30 January 2013 (Case R 2398/2010‑4) concerning opposition proceedings between, on the one side, British Sky Broadcasting Group plc and Sky IP International Ltd and, on the other, Skype Ultd.

Operative part

The Court:

Dismisses the action;

Orders Skype Ultd to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM), Sky plc and Sky IP International Ltd.