Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2012:502
Date: 2012-09-27
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Spain

Action brought on 29 January 2010 - El Corte Inglés v OHIM - Pucci International (PUCCI) (Case T-39/10) Language in which the application was lodged: English Parties Applicant: El Corte Inglés, S.A. (Madrid, Spain) (represented by: M. López Camba, J. Rivas Zurdo and E. Seijo Veiguela, lawyers) Defendant: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal: Emilio Pucci International B.V. (Baarn, The Netherlands) Form of order sought Annul the decision of the First Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) of 29 October 2009 in case R 173/2009-1; Order the defendant to pay the costs incurred by the applicant; Order the other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal to pay the costs incurred by the applicant. Pleas in law and main arguments Applicant for the Community trade mark: The other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal Community trade mark concerned: The word mark "PUCCI", for goods in classes 3, 9, 14, 18, 25 and 28 Proprietor of the mark or sign cited in the opposition proceedings: The applicant Mark or sign cited: Spanish trade mark registrations of the figurative mark "Emidio Tucci", for goods in classes 3, 9, 14, 25 and 28; Spanish trade mark registration of the word mark "E. Tucci", for goods in class 25; Community trade mark application for the figurative mark "Emidio Tucci", covering inter alia goods in classes 3, 9, 14, 25 and 28. Decision of the Opposition Division: Rejected the opposition in its entirety Decision of the Board of Appeal: Dismissed the appeal Pleas in law: Infringement of Article 8(1)(b) of Council Regulation No 207/2009 as the Board of Appeal wrongly found that there was no likelihood of confusion between the trade marks concerned; infringement of Article 8(5) of Council Regulation No 207/2009 as the Board of Appeal failed to conclude that the conditions for the application of this provision are fulfilled, as the earlier trade marks enjoy reputation in Spain in respect of articles related to fashion and the use of a similar sign by a third party would be detrimental to and take unfair advantage of such a reputation. ____________