Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 28 June 2012 —
Basile and I Marchi Italiani v OHIM — Osra (B. Antonio Basile 1952)

(Case T-134/09)

Community trade mark — Invalidity proceedings — Community figurative mark B. Antonio Basile 1952 — Earlier national word mark BASILE — Relative ground for refusal — Limitation through acquiescence — Article 53(2) of Regulation (EC) No 40/94 (now Article 54(2) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009) — Likelihood of confusion — Article 8(1) of Regulation No 40/94 (now Article 8(1) of Regulation No 207/2009)

1.                     Community trade mark — Appeals procedure — Action before the EU judicature — Jurisdiction of the General Court — Review of the lawfulness of decisions of the Boards of Appeal — General Court taking account of legal and factual elements not previously submitted before the OHIM bodies — Exclusion (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 135(4); Council Regulation No 40/94, Art. 63) (see paras 15, 18, 22)

2.                     Community trade mark — Surrender, revocation and invalidity — Limitation through acquiescence — Limitation period — Point from which time starts to run (Council Regulation No 40/94, Art. 53(2)) (see paras 30-32)

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 — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Assessment of the likelihood of confusion (Council Regulation No 40/94, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 37, 39, 62)

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 — Criteria for assessment — Complex mark (Council Regulation No 40/94, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 40, 41, 44, 45)

5.                     Community 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 B. Antonio Basile 1952 and word mark BASILE (Council Regulation No 40/94, Art. 8(1)(b), and 52(1)(a)) (see paras 61, 63, 64, 69)

Re:

ACTION brought against the Decision of the Second Board of Appeal of OHIM of 9 January 2009 (Case R 1436/2007-2) relating to invalidity proceedings between Osra SA and Mr Antonio Basile.

Operative part

The Court:

1. 1. Removes the name of the second applicant, I Marchi Italiani Srl, from the list of applicants in Case T‑134/09;

2. 2. Dismisses the action;

3. 3. Orders Mr Antonio Basile to pay the costs, other than those relating to the discontinuance;

4. 4. Orders I Marchi Italiani Srl to bear its own costs.