Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2017:174
Date: 2017-03-16
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Second Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - successful
Origin: Bulgaria

Judgment of the General Court of 16 March 2017 — Capella v EUIPO — Abus (APUS) (Case T-473/15) 1 (EU trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for the EU word mark APUS — Earlier national word mark ABUS — Relative ground for refusal — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Likelihood of confusion — Successive restrictions of the trade mark application before the Board of Appeal — Article 43(1) of Regulation No 207/2009 — Competence of the Board of Appeal — Article 64(1) of Regulation No 207/2009 — Right to be heard — Article 75, second sentence, of Regulation No 207/2009 — Rule 13(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2868/95) Language of the case: German Parties Applicant: Capella EOOD (Sofia, Bulgaria) (represented by: F. Henkel, lawyer) Defendant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (represented by: S. Hanne, Agent) Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervener before the General Court: Abus August Bremicker Söhne KG (Wetter, Germany) (represented by: G. Hallwachs, lawyer) Re: Action brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 2 June 2015 (Case R 117/2014-4), relating to opposition proceedings between Abus August Bremicker Söhne and Capella. Operative part of the judgment The Court: 1. Annuls the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 2 June 2015 (Case R 117/2014-4); 2. Orders EUIPO, in addition to bearing its own costs, to pay those incurred by Capella EOOD; 3. Declares that Abus August Bremicker Söhne KG is to bear its own costs. ____________ 1 OJ C 328, 5.10.2015.