In case T- 194/09, the General Court settled a CTM dispute between two Spanish-speaking Airlines, confirming absence of likelihood of confusion between the marks and LAN (from Chile) and LINEAS AEREAS DEL MEDITERRANEO LAM (based in Manises - also Valencian-speaking).

Preliminarily, the Court rejected OHIM’s argument that the relevant public demonstrates a higher level of attention in case of airline services, noting for example that when purchasing tickets on the internet which may cost only a few euros for some destinations, cost and dates of flights may take precedence over the choice of airline.

Although the services concerned are identical, the signs assessed as a whole are not similar. The element ‘lineas aéreas del mediterranero’ is significantly larger than LAM; contrary to what the applicant maintains, it enables the consumer to understand the element ‘lam’ and not vice-versa so it will be more likely remembered. Even if it is probable that the mark is referred by its acronym, and the first element is not very distinctive, in particular for the Spanish speakers, it cannot be considered as negligible in the overall impression of the mark. Thus, the marks differ both visually (30 letters v. a star) and phonetically. From a conceptual point of view, there is no conceptual comparison, except for that section of the public which has even a minimal knowledge of Spanish which will perceive a difference between the applied for CTM as referring to air transport services in the Mediterranean and LAN, without specific meaning.