Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2017:843
Date: 2017-11-28
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Spain

Judgment of the General Court (Fourth Chamber) of 28 November 2017 – Laboratorios Ern v EUIPO – Sharma (NRIM Life Sciences) (Case T-909/16) (EU trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for EU word mark NRIM Life Sciences — Earlier national word mark RYM — Relative ground for refusal — No likelihood of confusion — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2001)) 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 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 18, 19, 43) 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 – Similarity of the marks concerned – Criteria for assessment – Composite mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 23-26) 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 of the marks concerned – Criteria for assessment – Composite mark – Assessment of the distinctiveness of an element composing a trade mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 27-29) 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 – Word marks NRIM Life Sciences and RYM (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 36, 44-47) Re: ACTION for annulment of the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 26 September 2016 (Case R‑2376/2015-5), concerning opposition proceedings between Laboratorios Ern and Mr Sharma. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the appeal; 2. Orders Laboratorios Ern, SA, to pay the costs.