Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 20 March 2018 — Grupo Osborne v EUIPO — Ostermann (DONTORO dog friendship)

(Case T‑390/16)

(EU trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for EU figurative mark DONTORO dog friendship — Relative ground for refusal — Likelihood of confusion — Complementarity of the goods and services — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001))

1. EU trade mark—Definition and acquisition of the EU 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)) (see paras 18-20, 57)

2. EU trade mark—Definition and acquisition of the EU 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—Determination of the relevant public—Attention level of the public (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 21)

3. EU trade mark—Definition and acquisition of the EU 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 between the goods or services in question—Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 24)

4. EU trade mark—Definition and acquisition of the EU 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 between the goods or services in question—Complementary nature of the goods or services (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 28)

5. EU trade mark—Definition and acquisition of the EU 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—Figurative mark DONTORO dog friendship and word mark TORO (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 33, 43, 60, 61)

6. EU trade mark—Definition and acquisition of the EU 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—Composite mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 34-36)

7. EU trade mark—Definition and acquisition of the EU 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—Composite mark—Element common to two marks having an independent distinctive role in the earlier mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 40)

Re:

ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 28 April 2016 (Case R 2002/2015-1), relating to opposition proceedings between Grupo Osborne and Mr Ostermann.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;