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Freedom of interpretation by General Court
In Case T-22/10, Marc O’ Polo International GmbH opposed successfully on the basis of Article 8 (1) b) CTMR the CTM application by Esprit International LP for identical goods in Classes 18 and 25:
CTM v earlier mark
The earlier mark can be interpreted as the letter ‘e’ or the letter ‘c’ ( as the First BoA and the German Trademark and Patent Office have done so in the past) so it results that it is not perceived in an identical manner for the whole public.
The applied for CTM can be interpreted as an ‘e’ or as an abstract pattern. The outline of the pants’ pocket is a simple and banal geometric form and will not catch the consumer’s attention.
Accordingly, for part of the relevant public, there is a visual similarity, a phonetic similarity or dissimilarity and a neutral concept. Thus, there is a likelihood of confusion for the part of the public which interprets both signs as an ‘e’.
Posted by: Laetitia Lagarde @ 18.09Tags: general court, likelihood of confusion, jeans pocket, esprit, ,



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