Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2011:10
Date: 2011-01-19
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Trade marks;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 19 January 2011 – Häfele v OHIM – Topcom Europe (Topcom) (Case T-336/09) Community trade mark – Opposition proceedings – Application for Community word mark Topcom – Earlier Community and Benelux word marks TOPCOM – Relative ground for refusal – Likelihood of confusion – Similarity of the goods – Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 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 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 25-26, 42) Re: ACTION brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of OHIM of 5 June 2009 (Case R 1500/2008-2), concerning opposition proceedings between Topcom Europe NV and Häfele GmbH & Co. KG. Information relating to the case Applicant for the Community trade mark: Häfele GmbH & Co. KG Community trade mark sought: Word mark Topcom for goods in Classes 7, 9 and 11 – Application No 5032149 Proprietor of the mark or sign cited in the opposition proceedings: Topcom Europe NV Mark or sign cited in opposition: Community and Benelux trade mark registration of the word mark TOPCOM for goods in Class 9 Decision of the Opposition Division: Opposition dismissed Decision of the Board of Appeal: Appeal upheld, opposition allowed and decision of the Opposition Division annulled Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Häfele GmbH & Co. KG to pay the costs, including the costs necessarily incurred by Topcom Europe NV for the purposes of the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM).