Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 13 May 2015 —
Ferring v OHIM — Kora (Koragel)
(Case T‑169/14)
Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for Community word mark Koragel — Earlier Community word mark CHORAGON — Relative ground for refusal — 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 20-22, 28, 59, 70)
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 — Assessment of the likelihood of confusion — Attention level of the public — Pharmaceutical products and products other than pharmaceutical products (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 25, 31-35)
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 — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Word marks Koragel and CHORAGON (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 26, 27, 40, 42, 51, 54, 58, 72-74)
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 between the goods or services in question — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 41)
5. 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 — Whether conceptual differences may neutralise visual or aural similarities — Conditions (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 67)
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 — Weighting of the elements of similarity or difference between the signs — Taking into account of the intrinsic characteristics of the signs or the marketing conditions of the goods or services (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 84)
Re:
| ACTION brought against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of OHIM of 13 January 2014 (Case No R 721/2013‑4) concerning opposition proceedings between Ferring BV and Kora Corp. Ltd. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Ferring BV to pay the costs. |