EUROPEAN UNION: Court Finds Confusion Likely Due to Similarity of Figurative Trademarks

The General Court of the European Union (GC) has upheld a decision by the Fourth Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office to refuse registration of the mark in Class 33 for a wide range of alcoholic beverages of Java Trading S.A. (Java) (Richards Brothers Group’s predecessor in title) based on an earlier Spanish mark for identical goods in Class 33 of Masia Puigmoltó, SL (Masia) (T1168/23).

Masia filed opposition with respect to all the goods applied for.

The Opposition Division upheld the opposition in its entirety, finding a likelihood of confusion.

The Board of Appeal dismissed the appeal, confirming a likelihood of confusion. The applicant appealed to the GC.

The GC accepted that the goods covered by the marks at issue were identical.

Regarding the comparison of the signs, the GC upheld the Board’s decision that the words and figurative elements were co-dominant in each mark and that the word CABRON would be understood as the Spanish term referring to “a goat or a person or something perverse playing tricks,” whereas CABRO would be perceived as a misspelling of the Spanish word CABRON.

The GC held that the marks were visually of low similarity, phonetically highly similar, and conceptually similar.

The applicant submitted that the Board erred in its assessment of the visual and conceptual similarity of the marks as the figurative elements of the signs represent a bovine vs. a reptile, which have different attitudes (placid vs. aggressive). The GC upheld the Board’s decision that these figurative differences did not conceal the similarity between the signs due to the similar word elements.

The applicant submitted that for the Spanish public, the aggressive and insulting meaning of CABRON is such that it no longer refers to the original meaning “goat.”

The GC upheld the Board’s decision that as the term CABRO is accompanied by the image of a goat, it will be perceived as referring to the concept of a goat. Further, CABRO could be perceived as a misspelling of CABRON, and the Catalan word CABRO also means” goat.”

Due to the identity of the goods and the similarity of the marks, the GC upheld the finding of likelihood of confusion.

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