In February the Metropolitan Board of Appeal, Hungary, reversed the decision of the Metropolitan Court that Ranbaxy's mark CORPRIL was confusingly similar to earlier registered trade marks for the word CORPAL.

Ranbaxy had applied to register CORPRIL for pharmaceutical and medical preparations for human and veterinary use in Class 5. Lidl opposed, citing its earlier registrations of CORPAL for soaps, perfumery, body and beauty products, deodorants, sun protection, hair care products, dentifrices and room sprays (Class 3), plus air fresheners in Class 5. The Board of Appeal said that the Metropolitan Court was right to hold that the marks CORPRIL and CORPAL were similar from a visual point of view and almost identical from a phonetic point of view, but the court failed to examine the nature of the goods or their intended use. In particular it failed to explain why veterinary products were confusingly similar to cosmetics for human use -- these goods not being sold through the same channels in Hungary. According to the board, the average consumer who is well informed and reasonably observant and circumspect would not confuse the goods covered by the respective goods.

Source: Gabriella Sasvári, SBG & K Patent and Law Office, Budapest, writing in World Trademark Review