Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 12 July 2012 —
Hand Held Products v OHIM —
Orange Brand Services (DOLPHIN)

(Case T-361/11)

Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for Community word mark DOLPHIN — Earlier Community word mark DOLPHIN — Opposition refused in part — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) 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 207/2009, Art. 65) (see para. 22)

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 — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 30, 31, 62)

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 DOLPHIN (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 32, 63, 64)

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 — Criteria for assessment — Complementary character of the products (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 39, 40, 48)

Re:

ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 6 April 2011 (Case R 1443/2010‑1), concerning opposition proceedings between Hand Held Products, Inc. and Orange Brand Services Ltd.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Annuls the decision of the First Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) of 6 April 2011 (Case R 1443/2010‑1) in so far as it rejected the opposition in respect of electrical and electronic accessories;

2. Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

3. Orders Hand Held Products, Inc. and OHIM each to bear their own costs.