Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2020:546
Date: 2020-11-18
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Third Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 18 November 2020 – Topcart v EUIPO – Carl International (TC CARL) (Case T‑377/19) (EU trade mark – Opposition proceedings – Application for EU word mark TC CARL – Earlier national figurative mark CARL TOUCH – Relative ground for refusal – Likelihood of confusion – Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001)) 1. EU trade mark – Appeals procedure – Action before the EU judicature – Jurisdiction of the General Court – Review of the lawfulness of decisions of the Boards of Appeal – Re-examination of the facts in the light of evidence not previously submitted before EUIPO bodies – Precluded (European Parliament and Council Regulation 2017/1001, Art. 72) (see para. 23) 2. Acts of the institutions – Temporal application – Application of the substantive law in force at the time of the application for the registration of a trade mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 27) 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 – Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark – Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 28-31, 77, 83, 86) 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 mark TC CARL and figurative mark CARL TOUCH (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 43, 50, 53, 74, 80, 89, 95) 5. 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 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 44-47, 59-62, 64) 6. 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 – Weak distinctive character of the earlier mark – Effect (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 78) Re: Action brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 2 April 2019 (Case R 1826/2018-2), relating to opposition proceedings between Carl International and Topcart. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Topcart GmbH to pay the costs.