Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2016:678
Date: 2016-11-24
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: United Kingdom

Action brought on 21 May 2015 – Speciality Drinks v OHIM – William Grant (CLAN) (Case T-250/15) Language in which the application was lodged: English Parties Applicant: Speciality Drinks Ltd (London, United Kingdom) (represented by: G. Pritchard, Barrister) Defendant: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal: William Grant & Sons Ltd (Dufftown, United Kingdom) Details of the proceedings before OHIM Applicant: Applicant Trade mark at issue: Community word mark ‘CLAN’ – Application for registration No 10 025 815 Procedure before OHIM: Opposition proceedings Contested decision: Decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 5 March 2015 in Case R 220/2014-1 Form of order sought The applicant claims that the Court should: annul the contested decision and dismiss the opposition; order that a costs award be made in the favour of the applicant and/or that the costs order of the First Board of Appeal be reversed. Pleas in law The Board of Appeal erred in its characterisation of the level of attention of the “relevant consumer” within the meaning of Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation No 207/2009; The Board of Appeal failed to decide whether CLAN, when used in conjunction with MACGREGOR, was a fancy (i.e. meaningless) word to the relevant consumer or, in the alternative, was a word with a meaning they understood; The Board of Appeal did not assess the similarity of marks on the correct legal and/or factual basis; The Board of Appeal did not assess the likelihood of confusion on the correct legal and/or factual basis.