Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 2 December 2020 –

inMusic Brands v EUIPO – Equipson (Marq)

(Case T‑687/19)

(EU trade mark – Invalidity proceedings – EU word mark Marq – Earlier national and international figurative marks MARK – Relative ground for refusal – Likelihood of confusion – Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001) – Declaration of partial invalidity)

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, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 20-22, 90, 97)

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 – Attention level of the public (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 24, 39)

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 – Word mark Marq and figurative mark MARK (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 28, 33, 40, 48, 51, 53, 62, 63, 72, 82, 88, 99)

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 – Complementary nature of the goods or services (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 41)

5. EU trade mark – Lodging of application for EU trade mark – Identification of the goods or services concerned by the trade mark – Requirements of clarity and precision – Determination, by the competent authorities and the economic operators, of the extent of the protection conferred by the trade mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 26(1)(c); Commission Regulation No 2868/95, Art. 1, Rule 2(2)) (see para. 46)

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 – Similarity of the marks concerned – Criteria for assessment – Composite mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 54, 55)

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 – Visual similarity between a figurative mark and a word mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 67)

Re:

Action brought against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 30 July 2019 (Case R 1759/2018-5), relating to invalidity proceedings between Equipson and inMusic Brands.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;