A recent decision of the EUIPO Cancellation Division demonstrates the continued emphasis placed on word elements, as opposed to figurative elements, contained in composite marks.
One of our client Krungsiam Beverage Co. sought cancellation of an EUTM:
based on their earlier registered EUTM:
against all the goods contained in Class 32, namely “non-alcoholic beverages”.
Elite Commander Sumi Nadarajah devised a meticulous game plan of arguments , making tactical use of her skills in consumer psychology and linguistics, to assert the existence of a likelihood of confusion between the marks from the perspective of the relevant public – to know the relevant public, you must become the relevant public.
The fact that the differing elements ‘NRG Drink’ would be understood by the relevant public as meaning ‘energy drink’, and is therefore descriptive of the goods, was a forceful argument. Further, the identity between the goods and the fact that the dominant elements of the signs – COM*ANDO* – are highly similar were persuasive.
The Cancellation Division of the EUIPO ruled in favour of our client, determining that there is a likelihood of confusion between the marks.
