Judgment of the General Court (Fourth Chamber) of 24 September 2014 — Sanofi v OHIM — GP Pharm (GEPRAL)

(Case T‑493/12)

Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — International registration designating the European Community — Word mark GEPRAL — Earlier international word mark DELPRAL — Relative ground for refusal — Likelihood of confusion — 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 16, 26, 37)

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 — Word marks GEPRAL and DELPRAL (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 19, 35, 40)

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 — Similarity between the goods or services in question — Criteria for assessment — Complementary nature of the goods — Medicinal products (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 20, 22, 24)

Re:

ACTION brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of OHIM of 5 September 2012 (Case R 201/2012-2), concerning opposition proceedings between Sanofi SA and GP Pharm SA.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Annuls the Decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) of 5 September 2012 (Case R 201/2012-2), concerning opposition proceedings between Sanofi SA and GP Pharm SA;

2. Orders OHIM to pay the costs.