Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2013:615
Date: 2013-11-28
Language of the case: Hungarian
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: United Kingdom

Judgment of the General Court (Fourth Chamber) of 28 November 2013 — Vitaminaqua v OHIM — Energy Brands (vitaminaqua) (Case T‑410/12) Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for the Community figurative mark vitaminaqua — Earlier national word marks VITAMINWATER — Earlier Community figurative mark GLACEAU vitamin water — Likelihood of confusion — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 1. Community trade mark — Appeals procedure — Action before the EU judicature — Jurisdiction of the General Court — Power to issue directions — None (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 65(6)) (see para. 16) 2. Community trade mark — Appeals procedure — Action before the EU judicature — Jurisdiction of the General Court — Amendment of a decision by the Office — Assessment having regard to the competences conferred on the Board of Appeal (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 65(3)) (see para. 17) 3. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Relative grounds for refusal — Opposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or services — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Assessment of the likelihood of confusion — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 24, 25, 42) 4. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Relative grounds for refusal — Opposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or services — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Similarity of the marks concerned — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 26, 27, 46, 73) 5. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Relative grounds for refusal — Opposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or services — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Figurative mark vitaminaqua — Word mark VITAMINWATER and figurative mark GLACEAU vitamin water (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 29, 30, 43, 60, 61, 65-70, 82-84) 6. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Relative grounds for refusal — Opposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or services — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Weak distinctive character of the earlier mark — Relevance (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 37, 39, 52) Re: ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 26 June 2012 (Case R 997/2011‑1) relating to opposition proceedings between Energy Brands Inc. and Vitaminaqua Ltd. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Vitaminaqua Ltd to pay the costs.