Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 16 June 2021 –

Cyprus v EUIPO – Filotas Bellas & Yios (Halloumi Vermion)

(Joined Cases T‑281/19 and T‑351/19)

(EU trade mark – Invalidity proceedings – EU figurative mark Halloumi χαλλούμι Vermion grill cheese M BELAS PREMIUM GREEK DAIRY SINCE 1927 – Earlier national certification word marks ΧΑΛΛΟΥΜΙ HALLOUMI – Bad faith – Article 52(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 59(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) – Relative ground for invalidity – Article 53(1)(a) and Article 8(1)(b) and (5) of Regulation No 207/2009 (now Article 60(1)(a) and Article 8(1)(b) and (5) of Regulation 2017/1001))

1. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark – Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b), and 53(1)(a)) (see paras 35, 36, 56, 89, 96, 102)

2. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark – Assessment of the likelihood of confusion – Determination of the relevant public (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b), and 53(1)(a)) (see para. 38)

3. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark – Assessment of the likelihood of confusion – Determination of the relevant public – Attention level of the public (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b), and 53(1)(a)) (see para. 39)

4. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Similarity between the goods or services in question – Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b), and 53(1)(a)) (see paras 42, 48, 51)

5. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark – Coexistence of earlier marks on the market – Recognition of a certain degree of distinctiveness of a national mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b), and 53(1)(a)) (see paras 57, 58, 63, 64, 66, 67, 71)

6. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark – Figurative mark Halloumi χαλλούμι Vermion grill cheese/grill est/grill kase mediterranean cuisine under authentic cypriot receipe m BELAS premium greek dairy since 1927 and word marks ΧΑΛΛΟΥΜΙ HALLOUMI (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b), and 53(1)(a)) (see paras 71, 75, 79-81, 83, 85-88, 91-95, 97-101, 103-105)

7. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Similarity of the marks concerned – Criteria for assessment – Composite mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b), and 53(1)(a)) (see paras 76, 78)

8. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Relative grounds for invalidity – Existence of an identical or similar earlier mark registered for identical or similar goods or services – Similarity of the marks concerned – Visual similarity between a figurative mark and a word mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Arts 8(1)(b), and 53(1)(a)) (see para. 77)

9. EU law – Interpretation – Taking account of the context and usual meaning of the terms (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see para. 112)

10. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Applicant in bad faith when lodging the trade mark application – Concept of bad faith – Scope (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 52(1)(b)) (see paras 114, 115)

11. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Applicant in bad faith when lodging the trade mark application – Criteria for assessment – Taking into account of all relevant factors at the time of filing the application for registration – Applicant’s knowledge that a third party is using an identical or similar sign – Intention of the applicant (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 52(1)(b)) (see paras 116-119, 126)

12. EU trade mark – Surrender, revocation and invalidity – Absolute grounds for invalidity – Applicant in bad faith when lodging the trade mark application – Figurative mark Halloumi χαλλούμι Vermion grill cheese/grill est/grill kase mediterranean cuisine under authentic cypriot receipe m BELAS premium greek dairy since 1927 and word marks ΧΑΛΛΟΥΜΙ HALLOUMI (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 52(1)(b)) (see paras 121-125, 128)

Re:

Actions brought against the decisions of the Fourth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 15 February 2019 (Case R 2298/2017-4) and 9 April 2019 (Case R 2297/2017-4), relating to invalidity proceedings between the Republic of Cyprus and Filotas Bellas & Yios.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the actions;