Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2019:220
Date: 2019-04-04
Language of the case: Spanish
Court formation: Seventh Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Spain

Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 4 April 2019 – United Wineries v EUIPO — Compañía de Vinos Miguel Martín (VIÑA ALARDE) (Case T‑779/17) (EU trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for EU word mark VIÑA ALARDE — Earlier national word mark ‘ALARDE’ — Proof of genuine use of the earlier mark — Article 42(2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 47(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) — Relative ground for refusal — Likelihood of confusion — Identity of the goods — Similarity of the signs — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation No 207/2009 (now Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation 2017/1001)) 1. EU trade mark — Observations of third parties and opposition — Examination of the opposition — Proof of use of the earlier mark — Genuine use — Meaning — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 42(2) and 3) (see paras 17-20) 2. EU trade mark — Observations of third parties and opposition — Examination of the opposition — Proof of use of the earlier mark — Genuine use — Application of the criteria to the case in question (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 42(2) and (3)) (see para. 62) 3. EU trade mark — Procedural provisions — Statement of reasons for decisions — First sentence of Article 75 of Regulation No 207/2009 — Scope identical to that of Article 296 TFEU (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 75, first sentence) (see para. 68) 4. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU 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 — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 74, 75) 5. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU 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 — Similarity of the marks concerned — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 78, 79, 87) 6. EU trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the EU 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 — Word marks VIÑA ALARDE and (ALARDE) (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 84-86, 88, 89, 91, 94, 95, 100) Re: Action brought against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 25 September 2017 (Case R 281/2017-5) relating to opposition proceedings between Compañía de Vinos Miguel Martín and United Wineries. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders United Wineries, SA to pay the costs.