Judgment of the General Court of 24 April 2024 – Verla-Pharm Arzneimittel v EUIPO – Converso (Pherla)

(Case T-357/23) ¹

(EU trade mark – Opposition proceedings – Application for the EU figurative mark Pherla – Earlier EU word mark VERLA – Relative ground for refusal – Likelihood of confusion – Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Verla-Pharm Arzneimittel GmbH & Co. KG (Tutzing, Germany) (represented by: M.-C. Seiler, lawyer)

Defendant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (represented by: T. Frydendahl, acting as Agent)

Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervener before the General Court: Valeria Converso (San Giorgio a Cremano, Italy) (represented by F. Musella, lawyer)

Re:

By its action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicant seeks the annulment of the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 7 February 2023 (Case R 268/2022-2).

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Annuls the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 7 February 2023 (Case R 268/2022-2);

Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

Orders EUIPO to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by Verla-Pharm Arzneimittel GmbH & Co. KG;

Orders Ms Valeria Converso to bear her own costs.

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¹     OJ C 296, 21.8.2023.