Action brought on 29 August 2023 – Sandhold v EUIPO – Grupo de Bodegas Vinartis (PATAPOUF)

(Case T-540/23)

Language in which the application was lodged: English

Parties

Applicant: Sandhold BV (Leiden, Netherlands) (represented by: A. Spiegeler, lawyer)

Defendant: European Union Intellectual Property Office

Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal: Grupo de Bodegas Vinartis, SA (Madrid, Spain)

Details of the proceedings before EUIPO

Applicant of the trade mark at issue: Applicant before the General Court

Trade mark at issue: Application for European Union word mark PATAPOUF – Application for registration No 18 445 273

Procedure before EUIPO: Opposition proceedings

Contested decision: Decision of the Second Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 1 June 2023 in Case R 2553/2022-2

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

annul the contested decision;

order EUIPO to bear, in addition to its own costs, those incurred by Sandhold B.V.;

order Grupo de Bodegas Vinartis, S.A. to bear its own costs.

Pleas in law

Infringement of Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council in relation to the definition of the “relevant public” for the likelihood of confusion;

Infringement of Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council in relation to the assessment of the likelihood of confusion by refusing to proceed to the conceptual comparison and not taking into consideration the high reputation of the product associated with the earlier trade mark.

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