Judgment of the General Court of 9 September 2011 - Ergo Versicherungsgruppe v OHIM - DeguDent (ERGO)
(Community trade mark - Opposition proceedings - Application for Community word mark ERGO - Prior Community and national word marks CERGO - Relative ground for refusal - Likelihood of confusion - Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 - Duty to rule on the entirety of the action - Scope of the examination to be carried out by the Board of Appeal - Article 64(1) of Regulation No 207/2009)
Language of the case: German
Parties
Applicant: Ergo Versicherungsgruppe AG (Düsseldorf, Germany) (represented by: V. von Bomhard, A.W. Renck, T. Dolde and J. Pause, lawyers)
Defendant: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (represented by: B. Schmidt, acting as Agent)
Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of OHIM: DeguDent GmbH (Hanau, Germany) (represented by: initially W. Blau, then W. Blau, D. Kaya and C. Kusulis, lawyers)
Re:
Action brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of OHIM of 23 July 2009 (Case R 44/2008-4) concerning opposition proceedings between DeguDent GmbH and Ergo Versicherungsgruppe AG
Operative part of the judgment
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 23 July 2009 (Case R 44/2008-4) in so far as the Board of Appeal omitted to rule on the action brought before it as regards the goods in Class 5
2. Dismisses the remainder of the action;
3. Orders Ergo Versicherungsgruppe AG, DeguDent Gmbh and OHIM to bear their own costs.
____________1 - OJ C 297, 5.12.2009.