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Trade mark decisions
Editors: Katharine Stephens and Aaron Hetherington (Bird & Bird)
The Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) and General Court (‘GC’) decisions can be found at https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/j_6/en. Cases marked with a * can be found at http://www.bailii.org.
Decision of the GC
Ref no.
GC
T-711/20
Puma SE v EUIPO; CMS Costruzione macchine speciali SpA
5 October 2022
Reg 2017/1001
Reported
by:
Nia Lewis
Application (and where applicable, earlier mark)
- apparatus and industrial machine tools for making all types of heat exchanger (7)
- systems and equipment for heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, heat exchange, ventilation, steam generating, drying (11)
- installation, maintenance and repair of systems, equpiment and industrial machine tools for making all types of heat exchanger (37).
(unregistered)
Comment
In opposition proceedings under article 8(5), the GC partially annulled the BoA’s decision as regards the oppositions based on the first two marks (depicting pouncing pumas), but upheld the BoA’s decision insofar as the opposition was based on the third earlier mark (depicting a pouncing puma alongside the word PUMA).
The GC agreed with the BoA that the contested mark was not similar to the third earlier mark, so there was no infringement of article 8(5).
Concerning the first earlier mark, the GC held that the BoA should have re-examined parts of the evidence of reputation submitted at first instance. Similarly, the BoA had been wrong not to further examine the opposition based on the second of the earlier marks just because it had considered the degree of similarity between that earlier mark and the contested mark to be lower than for the first of the earlier trade marks. The GC referred the case back to the BoA for re-examination.