Language of document : ECLI:EU:T:2015:98





Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 12 February 2015 —
Klaes v OHIM — Klaes Kunststoffe (Klaes)

(Case T‑453/13)

Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for Community word mark Klaes — Prior Community figurative mark Klaes — Relative ground for refusal — Likelihood of confusion — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009

1.                     Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Pleas in law not set out in the application — General reference to documents annexed to the application — Inadmissibility (Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 21; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 44(1)(c)) (see para. 14)

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 — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 18-22)

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 KLAES and figurative mark Klaes (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 24, 25, 35, 37)

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 (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 28, 29)

5.                     Community trade mark — Lodging the application for a Community trade mark — Identification of the goods or services concerned by the trade mark — Requirements of clarity and precision — Determination, by the competent authorities and the economic operators, of the extent of the protection conferred by the trade mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 26(1)(c)) (see para. 32)

Re:

ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 6 June 2013 (Case R 1206/2012-1) concerning opposition proceedings between Horst Klaes GmbH & Co. KG and Klaes Kunststoffe GmbH.

Operative part

The Court:

1.

Dismisses the action;

2.

Orders Horst Klaes GmbH & Co. KG to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM);

3.

Orders Klaes Kunststoffe GmbH to bear its own costs.