Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 13 December 2016
Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 13 December 2016
Data
- Court
- General Court
- Case date
- 13 december 2016
Verdict
Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 13 December 2016 — Apax Partners v EUIPO — Apax Partners Midmarket (APAX)
(Case T‑58/16)
"(EU trade mark - Opposition proceedings - Application for the EU word mark APAX - Earlier international word mark APAX - Relative ground for refusal - Likelihood of confusion - Similarity of the goods and services - Article 8(1)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009)"
EU trade markDefinition and acquisition of the EU 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 21, 22, 57)
EU trade markDefinition and acquisition of the EU 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. 26)
EU trade markDefinition and acquisition of the EU 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 APAX and APAX
(Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b))
(see paras 27, 29, 58, 61)
EU trade markDefinition and acquisition of the EU 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 assessment
(Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b))
(see para. 28)
EU trade markDefinition and acquisition of the EU 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 assessment
(Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b))
(see para. 30)
EU trade markDecisions of the OfficePrinciple of equal treatmentPrinciple of legalityEUIPO’s previous decision-making practiceRelevance
(see paras 36-38)
Re:
ACTION brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 26 November 2015 (Case R 1441/2014-2), relating to opposition proceedings between Apax Partners Midmarket and Apax Partners.
Operative part
The Court:
-
Dismisses the action;
-
Orders APAX Partners LLP to pay the costs, including those necessarily incurred by APAX Partners Midmarket, for the purposes of the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).