CELEX: 62013CN0309
Language: en
Date: 2013-06-05 00:00:00
Title: Case C-309/13 P: Appeal brought on 5 June 2013 by Società Italiana Calzature SpA against the judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) delivered on 9 April 2013 in Case T-337/11 Società Italiana Calzature SpA v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM)

10.8.2013   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 233/3
            
         Appeal brought on 5 June 2013 by Società Italiana Calzature SpA against the judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) delivered on 9 April 2013 in Case T-337/11 Società Italiana Calzature SpA v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM)
   (Case C-309/13 P)
   2013/C 233/04
   Language of the case: Italian
   
      Parties
   
   
      Appellant: Società Italiana Calzature SpA (represented by: A. Rapisardi and C. Ginevra, avvocati)
   
      Other party to the proceedings: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs), VICINI SpA
   
      Form of order sought
   
   
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               Set aside judgment No 564400 delivered by the General Court of the European Union in Cases T-337/11 on 9 April 2013 and notified on that date and grant the claims made by Società Italiana Calzature SpA (‘SIC’) in the proceedings at first instance by annulling the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of OHIM of 8 April 2011 in Case R 0918/2010-2 and declare that VICINI’s Community trade mark No 4337.754 is to be refused registration on the ground of lack of novelty, as it is similar to such a degree that it may be confused with the earlier word sign ‘ZANOTTI’, which was registered in the European Union under No 244 277 and is owned by SIC;
            
         
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               order OHIM to pay all the costs of both sets of proceedings;
            
         
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               order VICINI SpA to reimburse SIC in respect of all the costs relating to the proceedings before the Opposition Division and the Board of Appeal.
            
         
      Pleas in law and main arguments
   
   The decision of the General Court is vitiated by inadequate and contradictory reasoning. The fact that the graphic element is visually dominant when compared with the word element of the mark applied for and that the words ‘By’ and ‘Giuseppe’ have been added to the term ‘ZANOTTI’ are not sufficient to rule out the possibility of a likelihood of confusion between the marks at issue, in view of the intrinsic qualities of the elements in question, in particular their lack of distinctive character.
   The General Court also erred in finding that the word ‘ZANOTTI’, which is the word element of the mark applied for, does not have an independent distinctive role, thus also ruling out in this respect a likelihood of confusion between the marks at issue.