Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 16 September 2013 —
Rovi Pharmaceuticals v OHIM — Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Rovi (ROVI Pharmaceuticals)
(Case T‑97/11)
Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for the Community word mark ROVI Pharmaceuticals — Earlier Community figurative mark ROVI and earlier national word mark ROVIFARMA — Relative ground for refusal — Likelihood of confusion — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Equal treatment
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 32, 100, 101)
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 — Pharmaceutical products (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 33, 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 — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Word mark ROVI Pharmaceuticals — Figurative mark ROVI and word mark ROVIFARMA (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 35, 36, 44, 45, 60-63, 81, 87, 88, 94, 98, 99, 108)
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 of the marks concerned — Criteria for assessment — Complex mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 64-66, 74)
5. 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 — Coexistence of earlier marks on the market — Effect (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 117)
Re:
| ACTION brought against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of OHIM of 7 December 2010 (Case R 500/2010‑2), relating to opposition proceedings between Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Rovi, SA and Rovi Pharmaceuticals GmbH. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Rovi Pharmaceuticals GmbH to pay the costs, including those incurred by Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Rovi, SA in the proceedings before the Board of Appeal. |