Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2013:574
Date: 2013-11-05
Language of the case: Spanish
Court formation: Second Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded

Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 5 November 2013 — Capitalizaciones Mercantiles v OHIM — Leineweber (X) (Case T‑378/12) Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for Community figurative mark X — Earlier Community figurative mark X — Relative grounds for refusal — Likelihood of confusion — Similarity of the signs — Distinctive character of the earlier mark — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 1. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community 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 24‑26) 2. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community 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 — Figurative marks X and X (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 30, 32, 51, 58, 60‑62, 66) 3. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Absolute grounds for refusal — Marks devoid of any distinctive character — Assessment of distinctive character — Sign constituted by a single letter (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 7(1)(b)) (see paras 38‑43) 4. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community 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 — Complex mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 53, 54) 5. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community 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 — Coexistence of earlier marks on the market — Effect (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 68) 6. Judicial proceedings — Introduction of new pleas during the proceedings — Plea raised for the first time at the hearing — Inadmissibility (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 48(2), first para.) (see para. 72) Re: ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 15 May 2012 (Case R 1524/2011‑1) concerning opposition proceedings between Leineweber GmbH & Co. KG and Capitalizaciones Mercantiles Ltda. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Capitalizaciones Mercantiles Ltda to pay the costs.