Judgments (Information) nº T-379/12 of The General Court, October 15, 2013

• Resolution Date: October 15, 2013
• Issuing Organization: The General Court
• Decision Number: T-379/12

Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 15 October 2013 —Electric Bike World v OHIM — Brunswick (LIFECYCLE) (Case T‑379/12)

Community trade mark — Opposition proceedings — Application for Community word mark LIFECYCLE — Earlier national word mark LIFECYCLE — Partial refusal of registration by the Board of Appeal — Likelihood of confusion — Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Obligation to state reasons — Article 75 of Regulation No 207/2009

1. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Relative grounds for refusal — Opposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or services — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 21, 22)

2. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Relative grounds for refusal — Opposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or services — Similarity between the goods or services in question — Complementary nature of the goods or services (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see para. 23)

3. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Relative grounds for refusal — Opposition by the proprietor of an earlier identical or similar mark registered for identical or similar goods or services — Likelihood of confusion with the earlier mark — Word marks LIFECYCLE (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8(1)(b)) (see paras 24, 25, 57-59)

4. Community trade mark — Procedural provisions — Statement of reasons for decisions — Article 75, first sentence, of Regulation No 207/2009 — Scope identical to that of Article 296 TFEU (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 75, first sentence) (see para. 30)

5. Community trade mark — Definition and acquisition of the Community trade mark — Relative grounds for refusal — Separate examination of the grounds for refusal in relation to each of the products or services covered by the application for registration — Obligation to state the reasons for refusing to register — Scope (Council Regulation No 207/2009, Art. 8...