Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 12 March 2014 — El Corte Inglés v OHIM — Technisynthese (BTS)
(Case T‑592/10)
Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for the Community word mark BTS — Earlier Community and national figurative marks TBS — Relative ground for refusal — Likelihood of confusion — Similarity of the signs — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009
1.                     Community 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 — Account taken by the General Court of matters of law and fact which have not been raised previously before the departments of OHIM — Exclusion (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 65) (see para. 19)
2.                     Community trade mark — Observations of third parties and opposition — Examination of the opposition — Proof of use of the earlier mark — Non‑submission of plea based on insufficient proof of genuine use (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 42(2)) (see para. 21)
3.                     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), and (2)(a)(ii)) (see paras 33, 34)
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 — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Word mark BTS and figurative marks TBS (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 36, 59, 64, 69)
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 — Similarity of the marks concerned — Criteria for assessment — Complex mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 37-39)
6.                     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 — Possibility of a similarity between a figurative mark and a word mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 41)
Re:
ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 23 September 2010 (Case R 1380/2009-1) relating to opposition proceedings between Technisynthese SARL and El Corte Inglés, SA.
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders El Corte Inglés, SA to pay the costs.