Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2022:89
Date: 2022-02-23
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 23 February 2022 – Lackmann Fleisch- und Feinkostfabrik v EUIPO – Schuju (Хозяйка) (Case T‑185/21) (1) (EU trade mark – Invalidity proceedings – EU word mark Хозяйка – Earlier national figurative mark хозяюшка – Relative ground for refusal – Likelihood of confusion – Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) 1. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark – Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b) and 53(1)(a)) (see paras 25, 26, 28, 77-79) 2. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier 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 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b) and 53(1)(a)) (see para. 29) 3. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier 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 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b) and 53(1)(a)) (see paras 32-34) 4. Judicial proceedings – Application initiating proceedings – Formal requirements – Identification of the subject matter of the dispute – Brief statement of the pleas in law on which the application is based (Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 21, first para., and 53, first para..; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 177(1)(d)) (see paras 38, 39) 5. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Similarity of the marks concerned – Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b) and 53(1)(a)) (see paras 44, 45, 54, 55) 6. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark – Word mark Хозяйка and figurative mark хозяюшка (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b) and 53(1)(a)) (see paras 43, 58, 68, 76, 92, 101) 7. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark – Weak distinctive character of the earlier mark – Effect (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b) and 53(1)(a)) (see para. 89) 8. EU trade mark – Definition and acquisition of the EU trade mark – Assessment of the registrability of a sign – EU rules only taken into account – Decisions of national authorities not binding EU bodies (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see paras 96, 99) Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Lackmann Fleisch- und Feinkostfabrik GmbH to pay the costs. 1 OJ C 242, 21.6.2021.