Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 30 May 2013 — Brauerei Beck v OHIM — Aldi (Be Light)
(Case T‑172/12)
Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for Community figurative mark Be Light — Earlier Community mark BECK’s — Relative ground for refusal — No similarity of the signs — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Article 8(5) of Regulation 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 — Assessment of the likelihood of confusion (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 17, 18)
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 — Figurative mark Be Light and word mark BECK’s (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 19, 30, 34-38)
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 — Similarity of the marks concerned — Criteria for assessment — Complex mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 20, 21)
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 of the marks concerned — Possibility of a similarity between a figurative mark and a word mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 24)
5. Community trade mark — Decisions of the Office — Principle of equal treatment — Principle of sound administration — OHIM’s previous decision-making practice (see para. 31)
6. Community trade mark — Decisions of the Office — Legality — Examination by the Community judicature — Criteria (Council Regulation No 207/2009) (see para. 32)
Re:
| ACTION brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM of 19 January 2012 (Case R 2258/2010-1) relating to opposition proceedings between Brauerei Beck GmbH & Co. KG and Aldi GmbH & Co. KG. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Brauerei Beck GmbH & Co. KG to pay, besides its own costs, those incurred by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) and Aldi GmbH & Co. KG. |