Judgment of the General Court (Fourth Chamber) of 12 December 2014 — Groupe Canal + v OHIM — Euronews (News+)
(Case T‑591/13)
Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for the Community word mark News+ — Earlier national word mark ACTU+ — 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 paras 17-19, 48)
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 — Word marks ‘News+’ and ‘ACTU+’ (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 22, 23, 51, 53, 54)
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 — Composite mark (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 24, 25)
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 — Conceptual similarity between the marks composed of verbal elements in different languages — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 41)
5. Community trade mark — Appeals procedure — Action before the EU judicature — Jurisdiction of the General Court — Re-evaluation of the facts in the light of evidence produced for the first time before it — Exclusion (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 65) (see para. 45)
6. 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 — Similarity of the marks concerned — Aptitude of the conceptual similarity to neutralise visual or phonetic divergences — Conditions (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 52)
Re:
| ACTION brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of OHIM of 9 September 2013 (Case R 1533/2012-4), relating to opposition proceedings between, on the one hand, Groupe Canal + and Canal + France and, on the other hand, Euronews. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Groupe Canal + to pay the costs. |