Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 5 December 2013 —
Grebenshikova v OHIM — Volvo Trademark (SOLVO)

(Case T‑394/10)

Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for the Community figurative mark SOLVO — Earlier Community word mark VOLVO — Relative ground for refusal — No likelihood of confusion — No similarity between the signs — 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 — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 15, 16, 27)

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 — Figurative mark SOLVO and word mark VOLVO (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 17-22, 38, 39)

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 of the marks concerned — Criteria for assessment — Likelihood of visual differences being more important than phonetic similarities (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 29, 30, 37)

Re:

ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 9 June 2010 (Case R 861/2010-1), relating to opposition proceedings between Volvo Trademark Holding AB and Ms Elena Grebenshikova.

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 9 June 2010 in Case R 861/2010-1;

2. Orders OHIM to pay, in addition to its own costs, two thirds of the costs incurred by Ms Elena Grebenshikova;

3. Orders Volvo Trademark Holding AB to pay, in addition to its own costs, one third of the costs incurred by Ms Grebenshikova.