Judgment of the General Court of 10 November 2021 – Nissan Motor v EUIPO – VDL Groep (VDL E-POWER)
(Case T-755/20) 1
(EU trade mark – Opposition proceedings – Application for the EU word mark VDL E-POWER – Earlier national figurative marks e-POWER – Relative ground for refusal – No likelihood of confusion – Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 – Obligation to state reasons – Article 94(1) of Regulation 2017/1001)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicant: Nissan Motor Co. Ltd (Yokohama-shi, Japan) (represented by: P. Martini-Berthon, lawyer)
Defendant: European Union Intellectual Property Office (represented by: V. Ruzek, acting as Agent)
Other party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, intervener before the General Court: VDL Groep BV (Eindhoven, Netherlands) (represented by: M. Rijks, lawyer)
Re:
Action brought against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of EUIPO of 20 October 2020 (Case R 2914/2019-1), relating to opposition proceedings between Nissan Motor and VDL Groep.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;
Orders Nissan Motor Co. Ltd to bear its own costs and to pay those of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and of VDL Groep BV.
____________
1 OJ C 53, 15.2.2021.