Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 23 October 2013 —
Bode Chemie v OHIM — Laros (sterilina)
(Case T‑114/12)
Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for Community figurative mark sterilina — Earlier Community word and figurative marks STERILLIUM and BODE Sterillium — Relative ground for refusal — No likelihood of confusion — 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 para. 17)
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 — Similarity of the marks concerned — Criteria for assessment — Complex mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 18, 25)
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 — Assessment of the likelihood of confusion — Attention level of the public (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 19)
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 — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Figurative mark sterilina — Word mark STERILLIUM and figurative mark BODE Sterillium (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 22-24, 32, 34, 35)
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 — High distinctiveness of the earlier mark — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 33)
Re:
| ACTION brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of OHIM of 16 January 2012 (Case R 2423/2010‑4) relating to opposition proceedings between Bode Chemie GmbH and Laros Srl. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Bode Chemie GmbH to pay the costs, including the expenses necessarily incurred by Laros Srl for the purposes of the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM). |