Judgment of the General Court of 6 December 2018 — Vans v EUIPO — Deichmann (V)
(Case T-817/16) 1
(EU trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for EU figurative mark V — Earlier international figurative mark V — Proof of the existence, validity and scope of the protection of an earlier trade mark — Rule 19(2)(a)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 (now Article 7(2)(a)(ii) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/625) — Relative ground for refusal — Likelihood of confusion — Similarity of the signs — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (now Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001))
Language of the case: German
Parties
Applicant: Vans, Inc. (Cypress, California, United States) (represented by: M. Hirsch, lawyer)
Defendant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (represented initially by: S. Hanne, subsequently by: A. Söder and D. Hanf, acting as Agents)
Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervening before the General Court: Deichmann SE (Essen, Germany) (represented by: C. Onken, lawyer)
Re:
Action brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 19 September 2016 (Case R 2030/2015-4) relating to opposition proceedings between Deichmann and Vans.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
1. Dismisses the action;
2. Orders Vans, Inc. to pay the costs.
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1 OJ C 22, 23.1.2017.