In its judgment T-380/09, the Court confirmed likelihood of confusion between the applied for trademark GASOLINE and the earlier Italian trademark for identical goods in Class 9, namely eyewear.

The relevant consumer will have a higher degree of attention because the purchase of this kind of goods is not very frequent, and depends closely on fashion tendances, personal taste and commitment to certain trademarks. Visually, the asymetrical wings design will not keep the consumer’s attention and the beginning of the signs, “gas” is identical. Conceptually, “gasoline” is American-English for ´petrol´ but given the close socio-economical tights, the fact it is an every day word and that Great Britain and Irish users go often on American websites, there is no doubt that the identical conceptual meaning will be grasped by the English-speaking public of the Community.

Finally, the Court held irrelevant the actual use of the earlier trademark, such as the aimed market, competition and channels of distribution, which depend on subjective commercial intentions, without importance in the assessment of likelihood of confusion.