The Opposition division of the European union intellectual property office (EUIPO) decided to reject Opposition No B3097997 in its entirety due to the complete lack of likelihood of confusion.
An Italian company filed an opposition against all the goods of European Union trade mark application No 18037625 Triogel (figurative mark). The applicant is Terazid EOOD represented by IPConsulting. The opposition is based on Italian trade mark registration No 302015000023763 and Italian trade mark application No 302018000004755, both for ‘BIOGEL’ (word mark).
In the present case, the goods of both trademarks are directed at the public at large. Goods are also intended for business customers with specific professional knowledge.
Trademark signs comparisson
The Opposition Division considers that the whole expression ‘BIOGEL’ of the earlier sign will be understood by the relevant public as indicating a ‘biological/ecological gel’. The sign of the contested trademark ‘TrioGel’ will be understood as the ‘gel with triple effect’. The coinciding verbal element ‘GEL’ in both signs is descriptive of the form of the goods and is, therefore, non-distinctive.
The earlier sign is a word trade mark. The contested sign of the European Union trade mark application is figurative. The signs are visually similar to a low degree at best.
The coinciding component ‘GEL’ is non-distinctive. It cannot indicate the origin of the goods, the relevant public will focus on the first component ‘BIO’ and ‘TRIO’ respectively. They have clear and different meanings. Moreover, the concepts are clearly different, in which case the relevant consumer can safely differentiate between the signs.
Conclusion of the Opposition division of the European union intellectual property office (EUIPO)
The average to high degree of attention of the relevant public and the clear different meanings of the beginning of the trademarks, lead to the conclusion that there is no likelihood of confusion between them. Therefore, the opposition against European Union trade mark application No 18037625 Triogel must be rejected.
