Decision No. 3/08.02.2011 – Sofia Civil Court (SCC), CD, VI-3 panel
Commercial lawsuit No. 1191/2010
Claimant: TED INVEST EOOD – client of IP Consulting Ltd.
Defendant: „AS I KO” ООD
The claimant TED INVEST EOOD states that it owns a registered trademark Matraci TED with reg. No. 41080 – combined, registered for goods from class 20, namely – mattresses, according to the Nice Classification of goods and services. The trademark has priority since 20.09.2000. The Defendant AS I KO OOD owned and sold goods under TEK trademark with identical appearance completely matching the claimant’s trademark appearance. The defendant has been drawn up a statement by the Bulgarian Patent Office (BPO) for using of the name MATRACI TEK.
It is clear by the conclusion of the expert conducting a trademark expertise, which has not been opposed by the sides, and has been accepted by the court, that phonetically the trademark and the used symbol are similar to the point of above average due to the word MATRACI which is present in both names as well as due to the similarity of the distinctive elements TED and TEK. There is also a very high visual similarity level due to the word MATRACI, written in negative and placed in a rectangle as well as the identical beginning of the second words – TE- of the distinctive elements. The trademark and the symbol are also similar by meaning as they bear one and the same message to the users. The conclusion of the expert is that the symbol used by the defendant AS I KO OOD is similar to the trademark of the claimant TED INVEST EOOD. The good for which the symbol MATRACI TEK is used by the defendant is identical to the goods “mattresses”, for which the claimant’s mark is registered. According to the expert the marks are similar to a level which can mislead the user that the goods belong to one and the same manufacturer.
D E C I S I O N
SCC ASCERTAINS THE INFRINGEMENT OF RIGHTS by AS I KO OOD over the right of the claimant TED INVEST EOOD over trademark with reg. No. 41080 MATRACI TED.
ENACTS CEASING OF THE INFRINGEMENT by AS I KO OOD.
ENACTS announcement at the expense of the defendant of the dispositive of this decision in two daily papers and on BNT between 19 and 21 o’clock.
SENTENCES AS I KO OOD to pay TED INVEST EOOD the expenses made on this lawsuit.
