Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 17 October 2012 — MIP Metro v OHIM — J.C. Ribeiro (MISS B)
(Case T-485/10)
Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for Community word mark MISS B — Earlier national word mark miss H — Earlier international word mark Miss H — Earlier national and international figurative marks Miss H. — Relative grounds for refusal — No likelihood of confusion — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009
1.                     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 — Assessment of the likelihood of confusion — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009,
Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 19-21, 48)
2.                     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 MISS B — Word marks miss H and Miss H and figurative marks Miss H. (Council
Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 22, 23, 47, 49)
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 — Similarity
of the marks concerned — Criteria for assessment — Complex mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para.
25)
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 — 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. 26)
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 — Elements of a trade mark having a descriptive character (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b))
(see para. 27)
Re:
ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 5 August 2010 (Case R 1526/2009-1) concerning
opposition proceedings between MIP Metro Group Intellectual Property GmbH & Co. KG and J.C. Ribeiro, SGPS, SA.
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders MIP Metro Group Intellectual Property GmbH & Co. KG to bear its own costs and to pay the costs incurred by OHIM;
3.
Orders J.C. Ribeiro, SGPS, SA to pay its own costs.