Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 7 December 2011 – El Corte Inglés v OHIM – Azzedine Alaïa (ALIA)
(Case T-152/10)
Community trade mark – Opposition proceedings – Application for the Community word mark ALIA – Earlier Community figurative mark ALAÏA PARIS – Relative ground for refusal – Likelihood of confusion – Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009
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 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 19-20, 59)
Re:
| ACTION brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of OHIM of 3 February 2010 (Case R 924/2008-4), relating to opposition proceedings between Mr Azzedine Alaïa and El Corte Inglés, SA. |
Operative part
The Court:
1. | | Annuls the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) of 3 February 2010 (Case R 924/2008-4) in so far as the Board of Appeal excluded the goods in Class 3 corresponding to the description ‘Perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions; dentifrices’ from its analysis of the likelihood of confusion between the marks at issue; |
2. | | Dismisses the action as to the remainder; |
3. | | Orders El Corte Inglés, SA, OHIM and Mr Azzedine Alaïa each to bear their own costs. |