Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2017:596
Date: 2017-07-26
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment;Appeal - unfounded;Appeal - inadmissible
Origin: Germany

summary, the General Court erred in its assessment of the distinctiveness of the contested CTM application “”, including of the elements “” and ““of which this sign is composed, and of the earlier trade mark ““. In addition, this incorrect assessment of the General Court was also based on a distortion of the facts regarding the language knowledge of the relevant public and their understanding of the meaning of the elements of the signs in dispute as well as of the evidence submitted by the defendant as Annex C.1 and Annex C.4, currently submitted as Annex 6. Furthermore, the General Court failed to provide reasons as to why certain aspects of the signs in dispute, e.g. their figurative elements, were not considered in in the assessment of the similarity of signs. On the basis of these incorrect assessments, the General Court erroneously held that in view of the strong similarity or identity of the goods covered, the average degree of similarity between the mark applied for and the earlier French trade mark and the normal inherent distinctiveness of that earlier trade mark there is a likelihood of confusion pursuant to Article 8 (1) (b) CTMR. ____________ 1 Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 of 26 February 2009 on the Community trade mark OJ L 78, p. 1