Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 16 September 2013 —
Knut IP Management v OHIM — Zoologischer Garten Berlin
(KNUT — DER EISBÄR)
(Case T‑250/10)
Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for Community word mark KNUT — DER EISBÄR — Earlier national word mark KNUD — Relative ground for refusal — Likelihood of confusion — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 40/94 (now Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009)
1. 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 — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 18, 19, 50, 60, 108)
2. 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 — Attention level of the public (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 21)
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 — Word marks KNUT — DER EISBÄR and KNUD (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 23, 77, 92, 97, 104-106, 121)
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 between the goods or services in question — Complementary nature of the goods or services (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 24, 25, 46, 48)
5. Community trade mark — Decisions of the Office — Principle of equal treatment — Principle of sound administration — OHIM’s previous decision-making practice (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see para. 32)
6. 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 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 78-81, 113)
Re:
| ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 17 March 2010 (Case R 650/2009‑1), relating to opposition proceedings between Zoologischer Garten Berlin AG and Knut IP Management Ltd. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Knut IP Management Ltd to pay the costs. |