OHIM has recently posted this decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal in Case R 996/2006-4 Meridiana S.P.A. v Globalia Corporacion EmpresTrebuchet MS, S.A. Meridiana applied to register the FLY-PASS figurative mark on the right for, among other things, online booking of seats for travel; air transport, running airports; vehicle rental; information relating to fares, timetables and means of transport; services relating to checking vehicles and goods (Class 39).

Globalia opposed, citing its earlier Community and Spanish trade mark registrations of the mark on the left for, among other things, services for the transport, packaging and storage of goods; transport of travellers; arranging of travel and travel reservation (Class 39). Globalia maintained that, since the services were identical and the marks were strongly similar, there was a likelihood of confusion of the relevant consumers. The Opposition Division, upholding the opposition, agreed. So did the Fouth Board of Appeal. This case is a good example of how OHIM approaches the comparison of marks that have identical text but different visual impact, and how it moves on from that comparison to the assessment of likelihood of confusion.