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Portugal: With so many "GEO"s, one more will not make a difference
On 28 February 2003, Optimus – Comunicações S.A. (‘OPTIMUS’) applied for the registration of the Portuguese Trade Mark no. 370441 “GEO SMS” for “Communication Services, including internet communications”. On 8 September 2006, INPI refused the registration on relative grounds (prior registration of the Portuguese Trade Mark no. 368787 “GEO”, covering telecommunications).
OPTIMUS brought an appeal against the decision before the Lisbon Commercial Court, claiming that the signs of the opposing trade marks were not similar and that several other trade marks constituted by the element “GEO” coexisted in the European market. On 18 November 2013, the Lisbon Commercial Court issued its judgment, overturning INPI’s decision and granting protection to the Portuguese Trade Mark no. 370441 “GEO SMS”. In short, the court held that “GEO” was a weak sign, which justified the coexistence of several trade marks with the same element without that leading to a likelihood of confusion. As such, no grounds could be found that lead to finding a likelihood of confusion between “GEO SMS” and other signs including the element “GEO” and there was no reason to refuse protection for the Portuguese Trade Mark no. 370441 “GEO SMS”.
This decision was published in the Industrial Property Bulletin no. 024/2014, of 5 February.
Posted by: Pedro Malaquias @ 15.54Tags: Portugal, INPI, Commercial Court, Relative Grounds,



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