Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2020:124
Date: 2020-03-26
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 26 March 2020 – Conlance v EUIPO — LG Electronics (SONANCE) (Case T‑343/19) ( EU trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for EU word mark SONANCE — Earlier national word mark conlance — Relative ground for refusal — No likelihood of confusion — Article 8 (1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) 1. 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 (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 16, 17, 57) 2. 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 — Assessment of the likelihood of confusion — Determination of the relevant public — Attention level of the public (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 8,(1)(b)) (see para. 19) 3. 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 between the goods or services in question — Criteria for assessment — Complementary nature of the goods or services (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 21, 22) 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 — Similarity of the marks concerned — Criteria for assessment (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 33) 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 — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Word marks SONANCE and conlance (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 42, 50, 54-56, 64) Re: Action brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 5 April 2019 (Case R 1085/2018-1) relating to opposition proceedings between Conlance and LG Electronics. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Conlance GmbH to pay the costs.